Erasing Natsuki
by Balticbard
Summary: Nothing lasts forever. Not even Shizuru's love for Natsuki.
1. Chapter 1

Erasing Natsuki by Balticbard

DISCLAIMER; Shizuru and Mai Hime legally belong to someone else. This story is just for entertaiment and no profits shall be made from it.

AUTHOR'S NOTE; MY Shizuru is far from perfect; she's possesive and territorial. She is jealous. She is evil and manipulative. She is dominating, self absorbed, violent. My Shizuru is also mentally unbalanced much like the original. My Shizuru is opinionated and has a fiery temper. And she is very very much like her emblem; every bit a sly, calculating snake to the very end. But above all Shizuru is the hero of this and all my stories. Yes I like and love shiznat, but I am obsessed with Shizuru Fujino. She is the queen of my fantasy universe.  
>This all Shizuru and how she sees the world around her, especially how she sees Natsuki.<p>

GENRE: Shizuru centric. Shizangst.

SUMMARY: Nothing lasts forever; not even Shizuru's love for Natsuki.

Erasing Natsuki by Balticbard

Chpt. 1: I wish I may, I wish I might have my wish tonight

Shizuru Fujino felt as if a gigantic void had opened up in her heart,  
>and there was no way that she could close the wound that now ached so deeply that it tormented her daily. Try as she might, the beautiful brunette had no way to remedy the situation she was in right now; the unthinkable had happened...she had fallen out of love with her tender lover of three years, Natsuki Kuga.<p>

Yes, it was most unfortunate for the former beauty queen of Fuka High that her heart had grown cold towards the person she had vowed to love forever; her darling, unforgettable Natsuki.

The three years that Shizuru had spent with her Natsuki, the hauntingly beautiful girl she had managed to win for herself when all the other lovers who tried had been rejected, had been heavenly. But with the passing of time, Shizuru found herself growing bored, secretly restless and wishing to be with someone else. Of course Shizuru had never voiced her thoughts and desires, but had tried in every way to remain faithful to Natsuki in all things. But all of her efforts had resulted in failure, and Shizuru had found herself treating Natsuki badly.

The abuse had started slowly; Shizuru became impatient with Natsuki, and began to critisize her in small details. Of course Natsuki went along with the veiled abuse, thinking it was just Shizuru's way of giving her advice on self-betterment. But soon Shizuru's remarks became more and more insulting til Natsuki couldn't hold back anymore and responded with anger, thus leading to a new wave of constant arguments that would leave the two not speaking for days until it was, surprisingly enough the supposedly cold ice queen Natsuki who would make tender, shy amends.

Shizuru would feel guilty when bathed in Natsuki's love, in her constant kisses and gentle lovemaking. But the void in Shizuru's heart would make her feel repulsed by her lover's touch. Shizuru had started to reject Natsuki's loving, her lustful advances, and had become reticent to even sleep with her in the same bed anymore. And when an insistent Natsuki asked Shizuru what was wrong; the reply was always the same; she wasn't feeling well.

Natsuki was an intelligent woman, and Shizuru's poorly veiled refusals of lovemaking soon tipped her off to what was going on, to the fact that she had so relentlessly refused to acknowledge but was no longer able to deny herself: that Shizuru no longer loved her and might be in love with someone else. The once fiercely independant, powerfully determined and fearless girl had now become a willing, loving, emotionally devoted slave to the often frivolous love of her life, the now distant Fujino.  
>The usually docile ex-rebel could no longer hold her silence and decided to confront her ever now ever constant elusive lover on the subject at hand on a fateful day when the truth in Shizuru's heart was finally made known.<p>

It was a Sunday morning, Shizuru would remember forever, that day when the end began, when the explosion she had tried to avoid came and when she finally let Natsuki go from her heart. Shizuru was lying on her bed (lately she had taken to sleeping in the guest room to avoid Natsuki's presence). The golden haired woman turned on her bed, trying to find comfort in yielding mattress that offered no rest for her guilty conscience. Shizuru turned her head as locks of her gorgeous, chestnut locks of hair followed her, framing her face and neck, falling onto her shoulders like slivers of a golden waterfall. She pulled the sheets up to her head to avoid the sunlight that streamed through the windows of the broad room with the shiny wood flooring and the sparsely furnished space. Shizuru heard light footsteps coming down the hall, and her heart jumped with fear, with guilt because she knew it was Natsuki who neared her shut door. She couldn't help herself as she raised her head and watched as the door of her room, that last barrier against Natsuki was parted and the girl who stood outlined in the morning sun as she stood in the doorway. Shizuru saw Natsuki as a voluptous shade that stood dark in the entrance, but never crossed the threshold into her presence and that somehow comforted her.

"Shizuru," the girl's husky voice rang softly.

"Yes, Natsuki?"

"I am a fair-minded woman, would you say?" Natsuki said in a monotone voice that seemed to sail through space to Shizuru's heart. "You would tell me truthfully if I have ever done anything to injure you in any way? I can trust you to do so?"

"Yes, Natsuki. I would tell you. But you have done nothing to offend or injure me in any way. And you can trust me to speak truthfly. Have I ever lied to you?"

Natsuki turned sideways as she leaned against the doorframe of Shizuru's room, and that way the light of day finally lit her face of small,  
>classic features. Natsuki's midnight black bangs had grown in, crowning her face like a raven's blue-black wings, making her lips seem redder than blood, and her skin like smooth, newly poured white milk. "I could say that of you once, Shizuru. But I can't say that now."<p>

"Oh," Shizuru replied with a superior sigh, "so my Natsuki has resorted to call me a liar. What next?"

Shizuru's smugness triggered Natsuki's usually well reined in anger.  
>"Dammit, Shizuru!" the girl cried out in obvious pain, "stop playing mind games with me!"<p>

"Whatever do you mean?" Shizuru sat up in bed, touseled and beautiful,  
>feeling a primal need to poke her once beloved partner with verbal affront.<p>

Natsuki was the one who sighed now, in evident tiredness, as she turned to face Shizuru, thus making her lovely face become hidden in a mantle of shadows. "Its all become a cat and mouse game, Shizuru. I know very well that I'm really not "your" Natsuki anymore. You've stopped loving me, haven't you?"

Shizuru hung her head in guilt and shame. She had expected Natsuki to become a raging beast when she found out about the veiled infidelity.  
>But she never expected this politeness and openness from Natsuki whom she had always considered only a few notches above a wild beast despite loving her. "Natsuki...I..." Shizuru began to say apologetically, but was interrupted.<p>

"No. Don't do that with me. I don't like it. You know I don't. Just please be honest with me. Have I caused this. Have I done anything to make you hate me?"

"Its nothing that you've done, Natsuki. It simply happened. No one thing or event between us can be blamed. In reality, you are above all blame.  
>You have been honorable as a lover to a fault. It is I who is to blame in this. It is I alone who is responsible for this state of things."<p>

"Then tell me, Shizuru," Natsuki said almost exasperatedly as she waved her pale, slender hands about in an invisible display only her fragile mind could comprehend, "what can I do to make you love me again? Show me how. Please. I love you with all my heart. I have given you my soul, my life. I am your slave in all but name and deed. Please give me the chance to live in your heart once more!"

Shizuru didn't reply, but instead got out of her bed, threw on her robe and proceeded to leave the room, walking through the doorframe quickly,  
>trying to avoid any contact with Natsuki. But her attempts were in vain when she felt the girl grab her arm in an almost desperate touch.<p>

"DON'T GO!"

Natsuki's cry startled Shizuru to the point that she stepped out of the room and stood a few feet of distance from the now crying girl.

"I feel uncomfortable here, Natsuki. I no longer wish to speak to you about this subject. You are not in any state to accept my words with any equilibrium."

"Please, Shizuru," Natsuki was indeed crying quietly, and Shizuru watched silver rivers slide effortlessly from the girl's jade eyes, down her sculpted cheeks. "At least give me some dignity, even though you've taken my soul from me. You've taken my life. At least respect me a little. Tell me the truth. I want to hear it. Have you stopped loving me? And is there someone else?"

"Yes," Shizuru finally concluded. "I no longer love you."

"Why?"

"I cannot say why, Natsuki," Shizuru replied quietly. "Perhaps it is because you have changed so. Perhaps it is just exaclty because of that;  
>you have given me so much of yourself, that you have lost the person I fell in love with. I simply feel nothing anymore. My heart is empty.<br>This union is dead to me. I want to be free. That is all I can say."

"Oh," Natsuki let out a small, sarcastic laugh, something that surprised Shizuru, as she stepped back from the doorway where she had stood and retired her hand from Shizuru's arm. "You forgot to include what a bloodsucker you are."

"Now that is the old Natsuki I know; easily delivering insults."

"Its so easy for you to sail away from this, Shizuru. Its so easy for you to simply dispose of a heart you have used. Yes I'm angry right now.  
>But I won't keep insulting you. So you've cheated on me, right?"<p>

"No," came the simple reply. "I have not done anything to shame you,  
>Natsuki. But yes, there is someone else."<p>

"Who is it?"

"Yuuki."

"Yuuki Nao?" Natsuki was beside herself in disbelief. "You're in love with that man-eating slut? You have got to be kidding!"

"Do not speak ill of her! I will not allow it from you!"

Shizuru expected a verbal battle, and even possibly a physical confrontation from Natsuki. But the expected never came, and this surprised an already irritated Shizuru. Instead Natsuki threw her head back and began to laugh heartily.

"So now you threaten me? I can't believe your gall, Shizuru!"

"I will not tolerate this!" the usually composed Shizuru screamed loudly, then dashed down the hall to the living room and out the main door of the apartment she shared with Natsuki. Shizuru threw the door of apartment shut with all her might, then ran down the long dark hall of apartment doors swifty, trying to outrun the lingering, yet muffled sound of her scorned ex-lover's laughter which seemed to follow like a vengeful spectre. Shizuru finally took refuge in an elevator, quickly and desperately pressing the button that indicated the lobby of the building. "I have to get away from here. HOW I WISH I COULD START OVER!"  
>Then she spoke more slowly as she calmed herself, and her nerves. "I wish I could start again in a new place. I wish, oh how I wish." A phrase from an old poem her nanny once read to her came to her mind, and she childishly repeated it as if it were a prayer, "I wish I may. I wish I might, have my wish come through tonight."<p>

"But you don't have to wait so long, dear Shizuru."

The sound of the quiet, cynical male voice was so familiar yet so unbelievable to her, that Shizuru turned around quickly to see who it was. "Nagi? But aren't you supposed to have gone with Mashiro to some nether world or hell or something? How can you be here?"

In a corner of the elevator stood a man of short stature, with white hair, imaculately dressed in white, with an evil smile on his otherwise beautiful, pale face.

"But nothing is impossible, Shizuru. I am here. Just for you."

"What do you mean?" asked a puzzled Shizuru.

"I have come to grant your wish." 


	2. Chapter 2

Erasing Natsuki chpt. 2: Setting the Conditions

DISCLAIMER: Mai Hime and the gang belong to someone else.

Author's Note; I forgot to emphasize that all my stories are OUT OF CHARACTER. I don't follow the rules okay? I like to experiment, to stretch the limits. I am rogue. I make my own rules. And no I don't hate Natsuki at all. I feel sorry for her and I would like to give her some dignity for once.

SUMMARY: Shizuru wants to start over from the begining.

The voice that greeted Shizuru as she entered the elevator and the doors closed behind her had startled her. It was a voice that brought back deadly memories to her of a time when she had been a volatile monster bent on destruction. The voice, and its owner had been a tormentor to her and her sister princesses of destruction that were ruled by the red star of the Obsidian Lord, Reito Kanzaki.

"Nagi?" Shizuru's voice shook only slightly as she fought for control of herself so as not to fall apart at what might be nothing more than an illusion. "What are you doing here? Or perhaps its just my imagination.  
>Nagi, prince of terror, messenger of the dark lord retired to the darkness of hell with Mashiro, queen of Hades. You cannot be here. I am just tired of all that has happened."<p>

"Of course you are, Shizuru Fujino. You are tired after all," came the slightly feminine voice that still held a masculine firmness that indicated undoubtedly the gender of its holder. "You are sick and tired of a life that carries memories of the murders you committed for a love you no longer feel. You are tired of a life where you killed friends and enemies without mercy despite the fact that you do not have the heart of a monster. You are tired of remembering that you are a murderer and there is no way out. I know what you are feeling and have come to resolve all your problems."

Amid the seemingly understanding lecture, Shizuru turned to face the owner of the comforting words only to be met with the sight of a person she thought had gone to the very ends of hell.

"What do you want Nagi? Are you really here?"

The man, seemingly more like a very young boy of short stature, was dressed imaculately in white. He was visually beautiful with thick,  
>white hair, full lips, a paleness that spoke of physical fragility, and evil eyes that seemed to pierce the soul of the tired woman of the golden hair that stood in disbelief before him.<p>

"I am not an illusion, Shizuru. I have come to help you. I have come to grant your wish."

Shizuru shook her head, "There is no such thing. Life is what it is. It cannot be controlled or foreseen. Fate comes as it does and no one can change it. What I have is all there is. I cannot erase my mistakes. I must accept the way things are."

"Are you saying that there is no such thing as a miracle, or that the idea that nothing is impossible really is a fallacy, Shizuru?"

Shizuru turned and leaned against the wall of the elevator. With a sigh she didn't give a verbal answer, but instead sighed tiredly and nodded.

"For shame, Shizuru Fujino," Nagi replied with a hint of teasing and more than enough sarcasm in his voice, "this from a woman who ruled with ease and crowned the head of a gigantic hydra with seven heads? Is that not fantastic enough and out of the ordinary to make you believe that NOTHING is really impossible, and that I can grant you your desperate wish?"

"You heard me? You read my heart and heard my words?"

"I heard you very loudly from where I stood in the very depths of hell.  
>And I came to help you, Shizuru. You must believe that I will."<p>

"I barely know what I want anymore?" Shizuru exclaimed passionately. "I just know that I cannot feel anymore. My heart is empty. I only exist. I only go on and on without the will to fight anymore."

"I know what you want," Nagi replied consolingly.

"And what is that?"

"You want to start over again. You want a chance to live in a world where the himes, the hime star and Lord Obsidian never existed. You want a life where you never killed. You want a life where you are no more than a happy, ordinary, average girl in love with the person who now occupies your thoughts."

"You could give me all that?" Shizuru felt a strange hope invading her bosom, but mingled with a dose of harsh reality that all of this was still nothing more than a mere dream.

"I can and will right now," Nagi answered firmly.

"What are you, Nagi?"

"I am your...well you could say I'm sort of a cross between a guardian angel and a fairy godmother."

Nagi's words prompted Shizuru to laugh spontaneously. "But to hear this from such an evil little man such as yourself. What is the catch then? I must give you my soul?"

"Things don't work that way, Shizuru. I will grant your wish for a new life, in a new world with a whole new destiny. All you have to do is accept my gift. There will not be any price from you. Once you accept, I will have what I want."

"What do you really want, Nagi?"

"Just accept my gift to you, Shizuru. Don't ponder the details. You won't have to give your soul or blood or anything that pertains to you personally. You will have the opportunity to begin once again, and with the person you love."

"But Yuuki Nao is dead. The dead cannot return to life."

"Didn't you come back from the dead yourself, Shizuru?"

"Well, yes I did..."

"You think that Yuuki Nao is dead forever? Yes, in this reality she died a week ago in a tragic automobile accident. But in the world where I will send you, she is alive and well. She is waiting for you."

Shizuru couldn't help herself anymore. She who had been raised to be a careful, sensible woman; tactful with words and actions, cautious with decisions, was now on the verge of hurling herself head first into an unknown destiny, "she's there? Really?"

Nagi carefully approached Shizuru and spoke quietly, "she is waiting for you, Shizuru. Nao is waiting for you. Just say yes and it will all be yours. A new life, and a new love. You will live your life the way it was supposed to be lived."

"What must I do then?"

"Simply accept, Shizuru. Say yes and the deal will be sealed. That is all you have to do."

Shizuru Fujino did not hesitate to give her reply. "Yes. I accept. I want the gift you have for me, Nagi."

Nagi's smile seemed to transform his face until it even reached his eyes, and for a moment he didn't seem evil at all, but just a sincere friend. "Thank you, Shizuru. Your wish has come true!"

"What happens now?"

"Go back to your apartment this very moment!" Nagi exclaimed happily.

"But...Natsuki is there..."

"Go. Leave this elevator right now, Shizuru. Trust me. Go back to your apartment and start your life. All the things that you knew, the reality that you once lived is no more. Just go back to your apartment!"

"YES!" Shizuru said passionately, fervently and rather loudly as she quickly punched in the fifth floor button and stopped the elevator's descent to the lobby. "Yes please, God!" she said more to herself, a silent prayer to a Christian God she had never truly believed in, but now wanted desperately to ask aid from. "I will go back." Shizuru waited impatiently for the elevator to ascend once more to the indicated floor,  
>then its doors to finally open. "Yes! Yes! I believe" Shizuru said in a manner that was totally unlike her; an ebullient child that has discovered that new toys await her in a prescribed place. She ran from the elevator with all the vigor of her young body down the hall to the place she had tried desperately to escape from before.<p>

Nagi's rapidly vanishing form and evil laughter were all that remained in the elevator. But Shizuru never noticed because she never looked back!


	3. Chapter 3

Erasing Natsuki by Balticbard

chpt. 3: Life Starts All Over Again

Shizuru almost flew down the hall to her apartment. She woul be a sight to see to some random tenant opening their door, they would see a truly beautiful woman in a lavender robe with long, flowing fair hair about her pretty face, gaining speed in her limbs to push ahead, and seeming like joyful ghost at the same time. But that was exactly what she felt, this usually composed goddess of delight as she ran down the hall with hope in her heart; blind to all she might have injured emotionally, and thinking of none but herself. Then reality sank back into her body as Shizuru slowed down her pace.

"Wait. I must not do this. I must not act so unseemly. My mother would be horrified if she were to see my conduct!"

Thus was true indeed; Shizuru Fujino, the youngest CEO of Fujino World Enterprises, one of the wealthiest, most powerful multi-national, multi faceted companies on the planet, running amok like a giddy two year old was the most improper sight. No.  
>She had to act her age and economic conduct; cool, calm and sensible.<p>

So the mighty and elegant Shizuru Fujino took a deep breath, calmed herself, then began to walk in a dignified fashion befitting her station and name all the rest of the way to her apartment door.

When Shizuru finally arrived at the door of her apartment, she swallowed nervously, finding her throat to be unusually dry, and that her palms were sweating slightly as with slightly shaking digits she gripped the handle of the door. Ever so slowly she opened the door, and stepped inside to find everything in darkness.

"He...hello?" the gorgeous woman asked in fear, still unsure if what she had encountered in the elevator a while back was reality or illusion. "Na..." she dared to pronounce the first syllable of a lost name, "Nat...su...ki," her voice whispered.

No sound or reply came to Shizuru except for the heavy presence of an eerie stillness in her surroundings as she shut the door behind her and turned on the lights of the living room. Then Shizuru moved around to parting the heavy material of the curtains with her swift hands to have the afternoon daylight flood heavily into her small world. Then Shizuru steeled herself as she opened the door to the room she had once shared with...

"Natsuki?" was her once again whispered question as she moved closer to the edge of the king-sized bed where a sleeping form lay enveloped in peach colored satin bedsheets.

Shizuru suddenly felt as if she were walking on needles as she approached the bed slowly like an energetic cat who still was fast trapping an unknown prey. The feeling of fear welled up in her dry throat as she tried to speak, but managing to only produce a syllable that was more a squeak than an actual word; "Na...N..." And with a sudden, desperate pull, the golden woman pulled back the sheets from the hidden form, expecting to find the dark haired lover she had callously wished away with all her might.  
>Instead, the sight that met her eyes made the young woman step back with a cry that awoke the sleeping beauty lying on the bed.<p>

What met Shizuru's crimson eyes was a slender form with all the perfection of a feminine physique, covered with smooth,  
>unblemished, bronze skin like a Polynesian goddess. The woman's long,<br>curvaceous legs reached to the foot of the bed where Shizuru stood. Slender, delicate arms draped over the dormant girl's bosom. The young woman's sleeping countenance was like that of the heroine of a bygone novel with long dark lashes, full ruby lips and a shy chin. The girl's hair was bright red, short yet the locks were long enough to frame her heart shaped face like small scarlet flames.

Shizuru's cry awoke the dormant woman who opened sleepy eyes that were the color of autumn grass.

"Shizuru," the girl said as she sat up in bed while rubbing her sleepy eyes, "what is wrong with you? You woke me up with a scare!"

Shizuru stood unbelieving at the sight before her, and her voice was almost caught in her throat as she tried to explain to herself that the person before her was supposed to bed dead. "N...Nao?"

"Yes its me, Shiz," the redhead replied with a puzzled look on her face.  
>"What's wrong with you? You're looking at me as if I were a ghost or something. Stop it! You're creeping me out!"<p>

"I thought you were dead..." Shizuru mumbled much to Nao's dismay.

"I certainly am not. If I were I would be the first to know!"

"But..." Shizuru reached out cautiously to touch the girl before her with a careful hand, but the now playful, smirking girl grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her forward unto the disheveled bed.

"What's wrong, baby? Are you wanting to get rid of me?" Nao whispered into Shizuru's pale ear with a sexy, low voice mingled with a small laugh. "Its not going to work you know. Not after last night."

"Last night," Shizuru was now puzzled at the whole situation, even though her heart was soaring at the girl that held her fast.

"Yeah. You were a tiger. You made me orgasm six times," Nao whispered again, making Shizuru blush hotly. "So there is no way that I am ever going to leave a wicked, wild lovemaking beast like you!"

"Oh is that so?" Shizuru replied back in her best, flirtateous tone, as she got into the new, wonderful role she was to play with the lover her heart had desired for so long.

"Yes that is so," Nao said lovingly. "I love you, Shizuru Fujino."

"And I love you too, my darling."

"So I guess its time to celebrate our anniversary, huh?"

"Hhhmmm?" Shizuru was greatly distracted by the kisses her lover was giving her.

"This is our third year together," Nao said quietly. "And I have a surprise for you, baby."

"What has the light of my eyes given me?" Shizuru asked elated at what fate had given her.

"You and I are going on our honeymoon," Nao said happily. "Cancel all your appointments for the couple of months, sweetheart. Tomorrow the two of us are going on a three month cruise across the Atlantic Ocean!"


	4. Chapter 4

Erasing Natsuki  
>by Balticbard<br>Chapter 4; Now Departing On the Good Ship Lollipop

"What a prick! You have got to be the WORST travel agent I have ever done business with! What an awful, GOD_DA..."  
>"NAO!" Shizuru exclaimed with shock as she came out of their shared bedroom, only to find her lover in a frenzied mood. "What language is that from such a pretty face?"<br>"Oh...um," the passionate, slender redhead slowed her angry pacing back and forth on the beige, living room rug. At the age of 23, now a fully grown woman, the normally self-confident, excessively aggressive woman still felt like a mere schoolgirl when her beautiful lover addressed her in a stern voice. There was something about Shizuru that made EVERYONE, especially Nao respect and feel intimidated by her. "Sorry, dear."  
>Nao took out her android phone from her khakis pocket, and stared disapprovingly at the object. "The idiot I paid so handsomely to get us a passage on the best cruise ship in Miami just called me!"<br>"And this warrants a fit of rage, and such evil words? You know how much I dislike a filthy mouth, my little spider!" Shizuru didn't even have the least notion of how stern she looked even at the age of 25: like a sixtyish schoolmarm going on and on about correct social etiquette.  
>"Sorry again, sweetie," Nao interjected ashamedly. "The jerk of a travel agent just called me now to tell me that the cruise I paid for ahead of time was canceled. He got us another one though. But I'm so disappointed!" Nao actually pouted.<br>"What is wrong then?" Shizuru asked, trying not to let her serious demeanor crack with the sensation of cuteness caused by her lover's endearing action. "He did get another cruise."  
>"He...HE..." Nao was hyperventilating now, her pretty face usually pale was a deep, angry red, "he booked us on a KIDDIE CRUISE!"<br>Shizuru and Nao were both silent now. An exasperated Nao was panting, out of breath. Shizuru was quiet and still like a beautifully sculpted statue, in awe, shock and confusion for several seconds.  
>"I wanted to get the best for you, Shizzie. It was for our honeymoon trip! I wanted to romance you, love you and thank you for all the years that you've given me. I wanted you to know how deeply I love you!" Nao ranted angrily excitedly as she wrung her pale, delicate hands. "I wanted to show you how much I...cherish and appreciate you. I worked so hard, planned things so carefully. I saved up the money. I tried to arrange everything. Now the FUCKING travel agent has us on a DISNEY-SHIRLEY TEMPLE themed cruise!" Suddenly Nao went quiet as her hands clasped over her pink lips, and her jaded orbs show large with worry over the escaped obscenity. "Um...uh...er..."<br>Shizuru was still speechless and staring when she did something unexpected that both confused and frightened Nao; the usually composed and refined Shizuru Fujino began to laugh uncontrollably til tears slid down her smooth cheeks, and her giggling caught Nao who also erupted into chaotic, happy gurgling.  
>The two women had sunk weakly to the carpet below, their backs supported by the comfy lilac colored couch behind them. Finally both women stopped their merriment to gasp for air as their lungs ached painfully from so much laughter.<br>"You are so adorable, my little spider!" Shizuru said smilingly as she wiped her tears away from her smooth cheeks. the light haired woman held out her arms to her favorite redhead. Nao didn't waste time, and took refuge in her lover's slender arms, and snuggled quietly.  
>"Yeah?" Nao sighed contentedly as she tightened her arms around Shizuru. "But its all such a downer. I wanted to give you the best. Its all ruined; everything is ruined. I wanted to give you the whole world!"<br>"But you already have, spider," Shizuru soothed as she held her girl, and kissed the woman's warm forehead with tenderness, "You've made me unbelievably happy. More than you will ever know."  
>Two days later, Miami Beach...<br>As usual, Nao was pacing back and forth, while Shizuru looked on at with adoring eyes. Shizuru stood in line at customs, and waited for Nao and herself to be processed so as to be able to board the cruise ship which was uncharacteristically named...  
>"LOLLIPOP!" Nao yelled into her cellphone as she spoke to her unfortunate travel agent. Nao was livid, and the rage she felt showed mightily on her pretty face. Even after Shizuru assured that she was happy with Nao no matter where they went, Nao was still bearing a gigantic grudge, and couldn't let go of it for the life of her. "That's the name of the damn ship you booked us on you stupid jerk! If I could get my hands on you I'd be charged with murder! Thats how mad I am at you!" Nao's body moved unconsciously to her words like a passionate poem, and it caused Shizuru's crimson eyes to reflect the desire she was feeling at the instant. "So the fact that the ship has an adult section is supposed to make me feel better?" Nao finally shut her cellphone and shoved it back into her faded jean's back pocket. The woman sighed and her shoulders slumped. "Okay, I give up." Nao visibly relaxed as her features became calm. The storm was over for now.<br>To Shizuru's starry eyes, all of Nao's movements seemed like a beautiful, deliberate and slow dance where each gesture expressed sadness, joy or anger such as now. But slowly, that intimate dance that Nao displayed (which the woman herself didn't know she was doing) which was meant only for Shizuru's secret enjoyment, slowed and became to a relaxed pace. "My little spider seems to have been placated with our cruise choice."  
>Nao turned toward Shizuru, and walked slowly to her. At that precise instant as Shizuru watched her lover approach, she was struck by a sudden, stabbing feeling of loss and guilt. Shizuru's rosy lips parted suddenly, and she uttered a name she had thought buried in the darkness of her soul.<br>"Natsuki."  
>The name of a long, dead shadow slipped from Shizuru's lips as she watched Nao approach. Nao neared her with steady steps. Shizuru's eyes wandered up, then down the redhead's body, surprised at how much like the absent Natsuki she seemed.<br>Nao was at medium height at about 5' 6". She had an hourglass figure with wide hips, a tiny waist, long legs that seemed to step with a dancer's ease, a swan neck, firm breasts, slender arms with small, delicate hands, pale yet glowing, unmarked skin, it was as if Shizuru was looking at Natsuki's body. The hair was thick and wavy, and though of a deep red hue with slight golden highlights that made it seem as if Nao wore a crown when the sun shown on her head, still the quality was the same as Natsuki's long, dark hair. In all of the details that made up Nao, especially when Shizuru looked carefully and slowly, she could still see vestiges of her long vanished lover.  
>"Natsuki," Shizuru whispered. The forbidden name flew from her sensual lips as if it were a fugitive butterfly and the beautiful woman had no way of capturing it once more.<br>"Who's that, Shizzie. Who is Natsuki?"  
>"Nao?" Shizuru turned suddenly to find her lover closeby, and that the girl had heard the name that she had involuntarily uttered, and now regretted having done so.<br>"Who is Natsuki?"  
>"Do you not remember her, spider? Natsuki Kuga."<br>"I've never heard of her. Is she...an old lover of yours, Shizzie?"  
>"You are jealous!" Shizuru exclaimed loudly, playfully with a brash mixture of joy and mischief in her voice.<br>"Well...YEAH!" Nao almost shouted as anger marred her pretty face. "I'm jealous every second that I'm with you. Besides the fact that you're GORGEOUS, and everyone...EVERYONE wants you...of course I'm jealous. I'm seething with jealousy. Besides...you flirt all the time!"  
>Shizuru had started to laugh, and it was cadencious like music, like all the songs that made up the suddenly blissful woman who hugged her lover tightly. "I do not think that I am quite that much of a catch, but I am so happy to see you thus because it means you feel passion for me."<br>"Idiot," Nao replied as she returned her beloved's hug.  
>Shizuru quickly released her lover, and with a serious countenance she asked, "you do not remember her from school?"<br>"I've never heard of her before in my life, Shizzie."  
>"Nao..." Shizuru now wore a mask of worry. "Have you ever heard of the Obsidian Lord, the Fourth District, Searrs, or the red star?"<br>"Um...no, never?" Nao was the one worried as she took note of her lover's suddenly anxious expression.  
>"Or..." Shizuru hit her trademark thinking pose; her hand under her chin, and a wistful look in her eyes, "Mai Tokiha, Kiyohime, Duran...Fuka?"<br>"Shizuru, I swear that I don't know what you're talking about. What is this all about?"  
>"You really don't remember your child, Julia?"<br>"Well...Julia happens to be my middle name," Nao pondered slowly, "but apart from that, it all sounds like a science fiction screenplay to me."  
>Shizuru coughed, then stepped back from Nao. "Yes. That's it," the brown-haired woman mumbled as she looked down at her expensive Prada pumps. "Yes. You're right, spider. Its all an idea that I have for a science fiction story."<br>"So..." Nao looked down shyly, and seemed to trace a pattern on the concrete floor, "this Natsuki person you mentioned is the main character? She doesn't really exist, and isn't one of your old lovers?"  
>"She doesn't exist," Shizuru replied honestly.<br>"Thank God for that!" Nao exclaimed loudly as she hugged Shizuru.  
>"You are my only lover," Shizuru whispered reassuringly, solemnly into Nao's tender ear.<br>While Shizuru hugged her lover's warm body close to her, and felt Nao's presence become absorbed into her, giving place to feelings of comfort and reassurance that would temporarily ward off her guilt over betraying a now absent shadow named Natsuki, a figure came into view of her eyes that shocked her.  
>"Nagi?"<br>Not far from where she stood with Nao, Shizuru's crimson eyes caught sight of a slender man of short stature dressed imaculately in a gray tailored suit crowned with a pink, silk tie on a black collared shirt. The white haired man who resembled a boy more than an adult noticed Shizuru's stare, and winked at her while smiling evilly, knowingly. Then with elegance, the boyman walked up the gangplank that led up to the enormous cruise ship where she and Nao would shortly spend a few days of promised bliss.  
>"Nagi!" Shizuru cried out as she released Nao, and stood watching the people boarding the ship.<br>"Who are you looking for, Shizzie?"  
>"Nagi. He just boarded the ship. Didn't you see him?"<br>Nao seemed disinterested as she looked toward the customs agens at the dock, "Hey, Shizuru. Our passports were checked and accepted. The whole process is over. Our luggage is on board the cruise ship. We can board now!"  
>"Already?" Shizuru was caught unaware as Nao lunged toward suddenly, and caught the older woman by the wrist.<br>"Cmon Shizzie! We have to go! Its time to start our honeymoon!"  
>Wild hearted, passionate Nao tugged at her beautiful lover's hand, and pulled Shizuru behind her to quickly board the giant cruise ship cutely but inappropriately named "Lollipop."<br>Shizuru quickly felt her lover's enthusiasm infest her as well, as SHE now took the lead, and ran ahead, now dragging Nao behind her.  
>The two young women now stood on the deck of the second level of the grand cruise ship, Lollipop. the warm, Florida sun shown on the gleaming skin of the lovers as they held hands, and leaned against the ship's railing.<br>Nao smiled placidly as her eyes scanned the endless expanse of blue waves that stretched out from the ship and dock, and touched the graying, evening sky at the point of eternity known as the horizon where both seemed to clash in a lover's passionate kiss. "Its going to be perfect, Shizzie. All of this is going to be beautiful...but never as much as you are!"  
>Shizuru had turned away from the sight of a boundless ocean that seemed to tremble erotically, while rays of sun hit its waves only to light them up like small, floating diamonds. Shizuru found herself getting aroused at the sight of the shifting sea, and turned around to face the other way. The woman seemed engulfed in a strange, sudden bubble; a world that included only her and a fragile breeze that played with locks of her long, tawny hair. Somehow, Shizuru could still hear Nao's voice, but garbled , and it seemed to come from a great distance. Everything that surrounded Shizuru seemed to come to her through a funnel, and never seemed to reach her pale ears. Shizuru was now engulfed in what seemed to be a light, grayish mist that dulled, then blurred everything from her eyes. The mist seemed to clear away as two figures emerged before her field of vision.<br>The first figure that came into Shizuru's sight was a tall man with broad shoulders, powerful, muscular arms that were evident even through the fabric of his gray suit. It was obvious that he was an athlete, even from the powerful stride of his long legs. He was obviously the most beautiful and distinguished man that Shizuru had ever seen, even though his face was still hidden from her. Shizuru smiled to herself as the thought that had she liked men sexually at all, this would have been her ideal type. The man, sparkling in all of his handsomeness, was fair skinned, with thick, short, shiny black hair. The man turned, and now faced Shizuru so that his identity was now revealed fully to her. She whispered his name in abject shock:  
>"Reito Kanzaki?" The man that Shizuru had known in a distant world as the Obsidian Lord, who had caused her and others so much pain, destruction and tragedy, now walked past her in an apparent, relaxed stride. His handsome, exotic, Asian features bore a serene smile that seemed to make him seem almost godlike.<br>Reito smiled proudly: that's how it seemed to Shizuru. Behind Reito came another figure; that of a woman. Reito led the woman by the hand. The woman, although hidden from Shizuru, seemed to be in her early twenties, with a voluptuous, yet slender figure, with long dark hair that covered her firm shoulders like a mantle. The young woman's visage finally appeared fully to Shizuru's eyes, and for a moment she was shocked. Shizuru's mind momentarily shut down as her entire body, already sexually aroused reacted violently to the most hauntingly beautiful creature that she had ever seen in her entire life. The sight before Shizuru's eyes lasted for several seconds as the gorgeous woman walked by. It was when the woman had walked away that Shizuru's brain fog lifted and she finally recognized the alluring form...  
>"Natsuki?"<p>

I've thrown away my toys

Even my drum and train.

I wanna make some noise

With real live aeroplanes.

Some day I'm going to fly.

I'll be a pilot too.

And when I do, how would you

Like to be my crew…

On the good ship lollipop.

Its a sweet trip to a candy shop

Where bon-bons play

On the sunny beach of Peppermint Bay.

Lemonade stands everywhere.

Crackerjack bands fill the air.

And there you are

Happy landing on a chocolate bar.

See the sugar bowl do the tootsie roll

With the big bad devils food cake.

If you eat too much ooh ooh

You'll awake with a tummy ache.

On the good ship lollipop

Its a night trip into bed you hop

And dream away

On the good ship lollipop.


	5. Chapter 5

Erasing Natsuki by balticbard

Chapter 5: Ghost of Christmas Past

It was on their third day aboard ship that Nao decided to take Shizuru on a date. Of course the first two days had been spent by the two lovers in bed having unabashed, wild sex which had produced the most fervent, mind-blowing orgasms for the two honeymooners. It was now the time for Shizuru and Nao to enjoy the amenities offered by the elegant cruise ship named Lollipop.  
>"But my dear little spider, whatever shall I wear? To a dinner at the most posh nightclub the ship has to offer?"<br>"Oh stop that, Shizzie! Don't be do damn sarcastic. You know very well I'm the one with the culture and refinement problem. You are the most aristocratic woman I have ever seen in my life, and I have seen a lot of rich people in my years as a real estate broker!"  
>"Oh my, what a rude way to describe me in such pleasant terms!" Shizuru joked as she pinched the delicate bridge of her lover's nose as they lay comfortably in their rumpled bed.<br>"And you love to fish for compliments," Nao replied as she rolled her eyes. Then the redhead got up out of bed, to wander around the room in her glorious birthday suit. "Cmon, Shiz. I already have a cute, blue-green number with sequins I got just for this trip. Wear that Carolina Herrera number you got when you went to San Francisco for the film festival last month."  
>"Fair enough, spider. I shall please you because I know you love that dress."<br>"It looks so hot on you, Shizzie."  
>"Then tonight I shall be your date to the nightclub."<br>"Well Shizzie its actually more like a ball type of thing. Its a black tie affair and the entire creme-de-la-creme high society of the cruise is going. So yeah we will fit in very well. There's going to be a real live orchestra, with waltz music and all." Nao's eyes seemed to glow like twin, emerald stars as she described the gala affair. "And I am gonna be so proud to be with the prettiest girl on the whole ship!"  
>"You make me feel so honored, Nao. My little spider I don't deserve you."<br>"Shizzie stop that right now! We deserve each other. Now lets get out of bed and start preparations. Its gonna take just to get mentally prepared for all this stuff."  
>Having come on this cruise with Nao, was the best thing that ever happened to Shizuru since she had been transplanted to this new reality by Nagi...<br>Shizuru recalled that very first day she had boarded the ship, she had been absolutely livid. She had searched for Nagi, and had found him sitting on a deckchair, placidly reading a newspaper. Shizuru wanted to strangle him, and approached him quickly with the intention of telling him so.  
>"Nagi!" Shizuru yelled as she stood next to him, quite startling the little man.<br>"Ah, Shizuru. What a pleasure to see you here," the evil Nagi replied, his eyes shining with mischief.  
>"You cheated me, Nagi. You said I had a new life. Yet today I say Natsuki on this ship."<br>"Oh."  
>"Well, is that all you have to say?"<br>"Well, Shizuru, I kept my promise. You have a new life. But you are bound to see people you once knew. But in this world all of them have different lives. Tell me. Has Natsuki tried to contact you?"  
>"No, she has not," Shizuru reasoned.<br>"Has she tried to bother you, or stalk you, or even let on that she knows you in any way?"  
>"Well. No. She was with..."<br>"Oh I already know, Shizuru. You saw Natsuki is with Reito Kanzaki in this reality. In this world they are lovers, both from wealthy families."  
>"Then..."<br>"Just ignore them. They won't disturb you, Shizuru. They don't know you. You don't exist to them. Just live your life with Nao as I promised you. Natsuki will not disturb you in any way."  
>"Very well," Shizuru replied gravely as she turned, and stood by the railings of the ship's deck.<br>"Shizzie, you ok?"  
>Shizuru turned to see Nao walking towards her with a worried expression on her face. "What do you mean, spider?"<br>"I've been looking for you for the last twenty minutes, Shiz."  
>"Oh I was just conversing with a friend I just saw," Shizuru explained, "I will introduce you to him." Shizuru turned to where she had seen Nagi sitting, and was surprised to see that the deckchair she had seen him sitting on was empty. "Where is he? Perhaps you saw him walk past you as you came to me?"<br>"I haven't seen anyone on this side of the ship, Shizzie," Nao replied with a worried, guarded look.  
>"Perhaps he walked in the other direction," Shizuru said with a shrug of her shoulders.<br>"Yeah. Sure, Shizzie."  
>And with that, Shizuru's thoughts of Nagi ended as she got out of bed only to follow her lover to the shower.<br>That night, Nao escorted Shizuru to an elegant nightclub called "Night Mist," the largest on the cruise ship, located on the top section of the Lollipop, and restricted to only the first class passengers.  
>Night Mist was a posh, upscale, expensive nightclub and restaurant with elegant lighting, mirror covered walls with white and gold edges. The tables the diners sat at, were round, covered with tablecloths in beige and gold trim. The ceilings were unbelievably high, shaped like high white domes with gold stars, imitating those found in old chapels, and were then decorated with crystal chandeliers. The nightclub was crowded; it was a black tie affair, and everyone there was elegantly dressed in their best attire. There was a huge stage in the farthest end of the nightclub, and there was an actual orchestra on it, and it caught Shizuru's excited gaze as she passed by with Nao on her arm. Shizuru actually counted the number of instruments and musicians in the orchestra as she passed by them; three violins, two violas, two cellos, three oboes, two clarinets, three flutes, two french horns, one harp, two trumpets, one for cymbals and timpani, two bassoons, and one elegant, frantic composer waving his arms in unison with the waltzes. The waltz music seemed to envelope Shizuru as soon as she entered the nightclub; the Vienna Blood Waltz, the Blue Danube, Swan Lake, the Valley of the Flowers.<br>Shizuru looked up at the ceilings which were huge in height, and made her feel the grandiosity of the nightclub all the way to her bones. The tawny haired beauty felt the immense elegance and seeming oldness of the place, coupled with the grand music which made her feel like a little girl again like the times she visited the greatest opera houses with her parents when they took her on trips to Europe.  
>Shizuru looked over at Nao, her lover who wore an elegant, tight fitting backless, sequined, aquamarine dress that brought out the color of her eyes, the beauty of her pale skin, and accentuated her wild, red hair, along with her rose and smoke eyeshadow on passion pink lipstick. Shizuru then looked up to see there were balconies with couples sitting and dining. For a moment, Shizuru actually thought that she was in an 1890's opera house in Vienna.<br>"This place is pretty lavish for a ship named Lollipop!" Nao said with a smile, "posh, pompous!"  
>"Yes, but..."<br>"I know, Shizzie," Nao said tenderly to Shizuru's delicate ear, "you love it all because its all old world."  
>Shizuru looked at Nao with apparent shock because she was amazed at her lover's ability to read right into her soul, "you are so right, little spider."<br>"Surprised?" Nao smiled broadly, "you don't know how easy it is for me to know what you're thinking."  
>Nao smiled once more, then gently gripped her beloved's hand in a fond manner. Nao led her elegant lover on as they wove through a maze of tables, and well dressed diners. Finally a young waiter, neatly uniformed in white, led the two women to a table for two placed near the dance floor. The girls sat down at their table, and looked around them in wonder. Despite the noisy surroundings, neither of the two lovers spoke until Nao broke their mutual muteness.<br>"You were born in the wrong era, Shizzie," Nao said with reverence, as she brought her lover's aristocratic hands up to her pink lips to gently kiss them, "you have the soul of a princess."  
>"Nao..." Shizuru was so deeply moved by her pretty lover's speech, that tears came to her crimson eyes.<br>Nao leaned over, and kissed Shizuru gently on the lips, "and you look so beautiful tonight in that tight, black dress with that delicious cleavage a la Sophia Loren. I could just eat you up right here and now, darling!"  
>Shizuru was both shocked and pleased by her pretty lover's brazen words. The brunette beauty began to feel thrills of pleasure that ran up and down her body that made the alabaster skin of her arms break out in goosebumps. It was as if Shizuru were in the midst of a fireworks display that showered a rainbow of spectacular, flaming colors amid the backdrop of a blue-black sky, sprinkled with stars that sparkled like diamonds. Suddenly a distant melody came to Shizuru's ears, making her aroused as she was swept into a dream of ocean waves dancing, melting against a sandy, white beach. Each wave was topped with copious snow white foam, and from it was born a stunning young woman with pale skin, and long, ebony hair that made Shizuru open her gorgeous eyes quickly as she awakened from her dream. Shizuru didn't see Nao's face, but instead saw figures dancing, waltzing to an ancient tune that seemed to envelope her like a lover's caress. Like the titanic parting of the Red Sea centuries before, Shizuru saw the dancers on the dancefloor part to then form circles around a handsome pair that all eyes turned to, and everyone seemed to whisper about admiringly.<br>Once again, Shizuru saw Reito Kanzaki (who had been her childhood friend). Reito was amazingly tall, well above the heads of the men around him. He was handsome, striking in a well tailored tuxedo that made one's eyes travel up and down his athletic body. The black of his suit matched his short, thick hair, and the darkness of his eyes that cast loving, smoldering looks upon the girl in his arms, whom he held as if she were the most delicate rose, as he swung her in his strong arms to the Blue Danube.  
>Shizuru swallowed quickly because her heart almost stopped beating, and seemed about to explode out of her now gaping mouth. The image of the girl dancing in Reito's arms, now received by Shizuru's bewildered gaze was like a ghost of Christmas past.<br>"Nat...su...ki," the woman with the light brown hair whispered within her soul.  
>The young woman wore her long, blue-black hair woven in a thick braid, held together with silver threads that seemed to glow in its inky darkness. Thin strands of silver chains, embedded with shimmering diamonds and pearls almost as white as the glowing, milky paleness of her unmarked skin, wound around her slender, aristocratic neck. From small, dainty hands to firm elbows, the girl's arms were covered by long, fitted white gloves. Her elegant, curvaceous form was fitted in a long, white and sequined gown that seemed to flow around her like angel's wings, yet showed off her tiny waist and generous bosom. She wore a flimsy, silken, white mantle embroidered with lace in the shapes of flowers that outlined her firm shoulders, and seemed to vanish into the whiteness of her flowing gown and skin. The girl's taller partner swung her around so that she seemed to melt into the breeze around her, almost becoming a white mist against the blackness of his suit. It was almost like watching a new rose bloom and spread out its petals, when the folds in the girl's dress spread out, and her partner lifted the woman into the air.<br>The way that Reito held his Natsuki, and how he turned with her, sending his coattails flying, as if the music took a curve around their whirling bodies, showed how proud he was of her. The other couples on the dance floor twirled around them like turtledoves around a king and queen.  
>From where she sat, Shizuru watched in awed silence the way Reito and Natsuki danced beautifully, like a vision of a bygone era. Shizuru followed her ex-lover's figure with a fixed gaze. Shizuru had never seen the girl she once called her own look so beautiful. For an instant, the tawny haired woman felt a strange ache in her bosom as she caught sight of Natsuki's full, ruby lips, and her emerald eyes that once shown with adoration only for Shizuru. Now, Natsuki's jaded gaze was that of a stranger for whom Shizuru NEVER existed. Now, the dancing, raven haired beauty's devotion filled eyes only saw Reito Kanzaki. It was Reito who put a blissful smile on Natsuki's lips, and not Shizuru.<br>"Shizzie?" Nao's concerned voice brought Shizuru out of her exclusive fascination, "you ok?"  
>"I feel ill," Shizuru replied as a wave of vertigo hit her, "I'm going to the restroom."<br>"I'll go with you, hun," Nao said tenderly as she gently stroked her lover's face, "we can go back to our stateroom if you want."  
>"No, little spider. Stay here and take care of our table," Shizuru said quietly as she kissed Nao's cheek. "I'll go by myself. Please order dinner for the two of us."<br>"Alright, Shizzie," Nao sighed, "but don't get lost, and come back soon!"  
>Shizuru slipped away from Nao with guilt and shame flooding her heart. Shizuru blended among the people standing at the side of the dance floor, and turned her eyes downward so she wouldn't see the visage of her ex-lover; the one who never was in this alternate world given to her by Nagi, yet whose memory still dwelled within her heart. Shizuru wove her way through the dancing bodies, dining tables and waiters. Then she exited the posh dining centre, and began to trudge tiredly down a long hall til she came to the ladies restroom. All the way there, Shizuru had the strangest sensation that everything behind her was melting into darkness til existence itself vanished, and only what was ahead of her was now real. Shizuru pushed the oak table to the ladies room and entered in.<br>The ladies room was lavishly over furnished with a Victorian theme; flowery print wall covered the walls; a huge, leather couch stood off to one side. The restroom sinks were made of marble with silver faucets. The mirrors above the sinks were reminiscent f an old, Roman temple.  
>Shizuru felt a stinging vile rise from her stomach up into her throat so that she quickly took refuge in one of the stalls. Quickly, the beautiful brunette lifted the lid of the toilet, and began to vomit. After emptying out the bitter contents of her stomach, Shizuru pulled the toilet chain, and flushed the contents down the toilet. Shizuru then unlocked the stall door behind her, and was about to exit, when she heard the door of the restroom open, and soft footsteps sounded which signaled that someone had entered the restroom. Shizuru didn't know why, but instead of leaving her stall immediately, she peeked through her barely open stall door. Shizuru was shocked to see the person in the grand restroom, "NATSUKI?"<br>Shizuru quietly locked her stall door once again, and sat down on the toilet. She suddenly felt nervous, and her heart seemed to be beating so hard and fast, that Shizuru was scared she might die at that very instant. She ground her teeth, almost biting her tongue, then clenched her fists as she shut her eyes, all the while trying to stay calm.  
>Just as Shizuru's heart and soul whispered the forbidden name within herself, she was startled to hear a sensual, melodious voice that was dangerously similiar to her own, say the name out loud.<br>"Nat...su...ki..."  
>Shizuru leaned forward, opened the door of her stall just a sliver. Her stall was at the far end of the restroom so that she when she peeked out from her hidden place, Shizuru had a clear view of the persons in the restroom.<br>For Shizuru it was like peeking through the keyhole of an old door, into a whole new world of strangers that were once her friends, but now each had a new identity that was unknown to her so that she had to meet them again as if it were the first time.  
>"What are you doing here?" Natsuki, the forbidden one, the ghost of a lost world, now spoke in evident anger and frustration, her earthy, sensual voice almost cracking with emotional pain. "I don't want to see you, Ahn."<br>Once again, Shizuru was severely shocked as she watched another figure from her ghost world emerge into her new reality.  
>Ahn Lu had been Shizuru's second cousin, and mentor in school from the first grade, until second year in highschool. It was from Ahn, that Shizuru had learned to love women. It was Ahn who had taught Shizuru the arts of love and seduction. Ahn Lu had taught Shizuru Fujino many things, and the beautiful, red eyed girl had also acquired many of Ahn's personality traits, including that of flirting and teasing. Ahn had Shizuru's first lover; the one who took her virginity, and introduced her to the delights of lesbian love. Unfortunately, Ahn had died at the young age of twenty two, so that what Shizuru was seeing now was a memory of her dead cousin. Then there was Natsuki whom Shizuru had met shortly after her cousin's death, and who became the first, great love of her life. "Until it all faded away, and my heart died to her," Shizuru thought, "until Nagi who promised me a new world, but has given me nothing but GHOSTS! Nagi has cheated me! But Shizuru's irritated thoughts were cut short as the ghost of Ahn Lu spoke again...<br>"You truly hate me, Natsuki."  
>"Yes. With all of my heart," Natsuki replied bitterly.<br>"Truly," Ahn said with an amused giggle, "hate is but the shadow of love..." Then the tall, slender and handsome blond slowly approached the raven haired beauty, who glared at her with almost explosive rage. "You were always so...passionate. I see that you haven't changed at all."  
>"Don't..." Natsuki said gravely, trying to keep calm, "don't patronize me. I'm not the gullible, innocent child you once knew. I've grown up!"<br>"Yes, I can see that," Ahn sid, as her lips formed an obvious, sensual smirk. "You've gotten so much taller, and so incredibly beautiful."  
>"You are so very despicable. I simply detest you, Ahn Lu!" Natsuki replied with profound resentment.<br>"And you are so very...very unforgettable, my Natsuki."  
>Shizuru watched Ahn Lu slowly approach a reticent Natsuki. Ahn was impeccably dressed from head to toe in a black, masculine suite that ironically emphasized the feminine curves of her figure so that she wasn't a complete androgine. Ahn was pale, her blond hair was pulled back tightly in a bun. The blond wore a white rose on her lapel that matched her white, silk tie which contrasted with her black shirt and suit.<br>It seemed to Shizuru that Ahn was the darkness in her black suit, while Natsuki was the light in her delicate, white gown. It almost seemed to a deeply mesmerized Shizuru that the two women represented the forces of good and evil, and that a war was about to erupt between them.  
>"You still love me, Natsuki."<br>"No. I don't. The love that I felt for you is gone."  
>"That's not true, my Nat...su...ki," Ahn whispered as she reached out with her pale hand, and caressed the girl's pale, sculpted cheek. "You know that I am still deep inside your heart, and always will be..."<br>"You abandoned me. You simply erased me from your life. So I erased you from mine."  
>"Natsuki..."<br>"No. I love Reito now. He rescued me from the misery I was in after you left me behind. He loved me unconditionally, and supported me. He created me all over again. He gave me a new life. And I gave him my heart."  
>"But I was your first love, my Natsuki. I took your virginity. I made you a woman."<br>Suddenly Shizuru had to step back from the stall door, as a wave of dizziness seemed to wind its way around her head, and a burning vile rose from her stomach to her already dry throat. The red-eyed woman covered her mouth with both trembling hands to keep from falling over and vomiting all over herself. A deep wave of anger and jealousy rose in Shizuru's heart when she heard Ahn's last words to Natsuki.  
>"Just what the hell do you want, Ahn? Why did you come back into my life?" a deeply resentful, angry Natsuki asked with passion.<br>"Isn't it obvious why?"  
>"Hhhmmm..." Natsuki hummed sarcastically, "enlighten me then."<br>"I've come back for you, my Natsuki!"  
>Although Shizuru was now sitting on the toilet trying to recover from her sudden ailments, Natsuki and Ahn's voices still penetrated through the thin walls of her stall to torture her. But then, Shizuru heard Natsuki's voice, heavy with anger, and that seemed to alleviate her symptoms a bit.<br>"Are you serious?" Natsuki's voice rose in ire, making it apparent that the young woman was deeply offended by her ex-lover's proposition, and that made Shizuru's jealous heart soar.  
>"I want you back, Natsuki!" Ahn exclaimed quickly, passionately. "Leaving you was the biggest mistake of my life!"<br>"Its too late, Ahn. Even if there was even the smallest bit of love for you in my heart, I would still not want you back!"  
>"Natsuki..." Ahn replied with passion, with evident lust, "I need you. I can make you love me again! I will be your slave forever! I will make up for all the pain that I caused you!"<br>"NO! No, she must not!" Shizuru said to herself as she got back up on her feet, and leaned against the door of her stall.  
>"I'm going to marry Reito!" Natsuki replied calmly, coldly.<br>"NO!" Ahn shouted as her voice became urgent, desperate like a dagger to Shizuru's heart, "are you his lover?"  
>"Yes."<br>As Shizuru slowly opened the door of her stall just a sliver so she could continue to spy on the embattled lovers, she heard a sound that both chilled and enraged her; it was the sound of a hand quickly slapping a soft cheek. Now, Shizuru was seized with the mad desire to exit her stall, and attack Ahn. But once again, Shizuru was seized with a sudden vertigo that made her step back from the stall door once more. What Shizuru heard next were the sounds of struggling.  
>"NO! Stay away from me, Ahn! I don't want you to touch me!"<br>Shizuru braced herself, and looked out of the opening between the partition and the stall door. What she saw almost turned Shizuru's heart to stone; Ahn had caught Natsuki in her arms, and was forcibly kissing her.  
>"You are mine, Natsuki," Ahn said as she covered Natsuki's red lips with her own pink ones. "You are my wife in both heart and soul! I will NEVER let you be with anyone but ME!"<br>Again, Shizuru was overcome by the almost murderous urge to attack Ahn, but this time she actually made an attempt to exit her stall. "No. She. Must. Not. Touch. Natsuki...MY Natsuki!" But once again she was stopped by another wave of dizziness that made Shizuru fall to her knees. All that Shizuru could do, was to watch helplessly through the small aperture between the stall and its door.  
>After a brief struggle, Natsuki managed to push Ahn away from her, which brought a huge rush of joy to the secretly observant Shizuru Fujino. Natsuki quickly stepped away from Ahn's reach.<br>"I don't love you," Natsuki replied as she touched her lips with a pale hand. "I love Reito. I will never stop loving him. We are to be married on this ship. I will be his wife forever!"  
>"No, Natsuki!" Ahn shouted angrily. "I will not let you marry him! I will make you mine once more!"<br>"No, Ahn," Natsuki said firmly. "You can't stop me from marrying Reito. Its my choice. He is my life. There is nothing that you can do about it! So just stay away from me from now on!" Then Natsuki turned her back on Ahn, and opened the door of the restroom with the intention of leaving. But Ahn's voice made Natsuki pause...  
>"Natsuki..." Ahn said in a low, grave voice, "you are mine. I will not let anyone else have you!"<br>Natsuki's only response was to laugh as she exited the restroom. An obviously enraged and jealous Ahn quickly opened the door, then left as well. Shizuru was left alone in the posh restroom.  
>Shizuru turned around, and once again vomited into the toilet. It was at that moment that she heard the restroom door opening, and the sound of footsteps. "Natsuki?" the tawny haired woman whispered, hoping against hope that maybe the raven haired girl had somehow come back for her. Shizuru finally opened the stall door, and stepped out, only to find her pretty, redheaded lover Nao, instead of Natsuki.<br>"Shizzie! I was worried sick because you took so..."  
>Shizuru took a few steps towards Nao, "little spider," she said tenderly, "I do not feel well at all." Then Shizuru collapsed in her lover's arms.<br>"Shizuru!" Nao cried out in panic as she embraced her lover.  
>But at that moment, Shizuru didn't hear Nao's voice. Instead, Shizuru only heard the distant, vanishing, accusing echo of Natsuki's words that seemed aimed more at her than at Ahn Lu;<br>"You erased me from your life. So I erased you from mine..."  
>Then Shizuru quietly fainted in Nao's arms...<p>

to be continued in chapter 6: The Devil Has The Last Laugh


	6. Chapter 6

Erasing Natsuki by Balticbard

Chapter 6: The Devil Has The Last Laugh

Shizuru woke with a start, discovered herself alone in her stateroom. Almost right away she groaned as a wave of dizziness overwhelmed her. Added to her current suffering, Shizuru felt a searing pain tear through her head which made her attempt to get out of bed all the more difficult. The woman slowly turned her head upon her tumbled pillow, only to see on the nightstand beside her bed a glass of water, a bottle of aspirin with a short note from Nao attached to the lampshade. Shizuru took the note, a slip of paper attached by a small piece of scotch tape the to lamp, then tore it easily away. She had to focus her crimson gaze which seemed to quiver so that the hastily written words on the paper seemed to swim before her eye.

"Shizzie,  
>I'm sorry I won't be with you when you wake up from your hangover. You had me worried last night when you didn't come back from your trip to the restroom. When I went after you, I found you crying, looking like the world had ended, then you just fainted away. I brought you back here right away and put you to bed. I guess you had too much to drink. So I've left you the perfect cure for hangovers. Its always worked for me when I got drunk in my wayward youth. I had to step out suddenly to make a few business calls to people who can't wait til our vacation is over. I'll be back as soon as I can. Please stay in bed and order roomservice if you need anything. I've bribed a deckhand named Carlos to come as soon as you ask for him. Now get some rest.<br>Love you, babe,

Nao..."

Slowly, Shizuru reached for the bottle of aspirin, uncapped it, the took the usual dose of two white pills. She washed the pills down her throat by emptying the glass of water provided by her thoughtful lover. The Shizuru sighed quietly as she looked around her stateroom, finding her loneliness, and the memories of the night before unbearable.  
>"I cannot stay cooped up her all day. I must get out to see the sun!" the tawny haired woman thought to herself. Even though moving was uncomfortable, the desire to get up pushed Shizuru to get out of bed, " I'll feel better when I am out of here."<br>Shizuru felt a bit upset with Nao, because the pretty redhead thought she had fainted in the restroom the night before because she was drunk. Still, Shizuru was also grateful for Nao's thoughtfulness towards her. Shizuru made an effort, and managed to sit up from her rumpled bed, feeling a bit of relief which meant the medicine she had taken was doing its job in repairing her awful state. Then, Shizuru felt a sudden rush as a name escaped her lips in a panic.  
>"Natsuki!"<br>Despite feeling unsettled, Shizuru rushed out of bed and began looking for something to wear. The beautiful brunette settled on wearing an old T-shirt, baggy sweat pants, and a pair of dirty sneakers. Then Shizuru tied her long, wild chestnut hair back in an impromptu ponytail. Shizuru was the kind of woman who was always impeccably dressed; neat, not a hair out of place, well applied make-up, and proper attire. Now, feeling a sudden ache for what was once her lover, Shizuru left her stateroo with only one goal in mind; to see her Natsuki once again. Shizuru had conveniently forgotten the deal she made with the demond, Nagi to be rid of the raven-haired girl forever, or that she was now living in a new reality with Nao Yuuki. All the things that Shizuru had felt or thought when she made her satanic deal with the demi-god Nagi, along with her new lover, and the details of her present life all went to hell! All that Shizuru wanted at the moment was to see her raven-haired damsel once again.  
>Shizuru walked around the sunlit deck, desperately searching for Natsuki, but there was no sight of her. In a daze, Shizuru wandered around the ship's deck, mumbling to herself, never noticing the people around her who looked at her as if she were insane.<br>Shizuru fell into utter despair and panic as she continued to look everywhere, but the noble visage of the person she craves never appeared. Shizuru felt herself enveloped in a rush of memories as in her mind she traveled back to the first years of her love and life with Natsuki. Shizuru recalled when she had met and fallen in love with Natsuki. the two of them had become so close (first as friends, then later as lovers) that Shizuru only had to close her eyes, and she would always find Natsuki. Shizuru always knew where the girl was, as if the two of them were connected by the same soul. Now Shizuru felt a warm contentment wash over her as she realized that she could still find Natsuki, even if in "this life or reality" they had never known each other.  
>"I can still find her. All I have to do is want it with all my heart, and I will find my Natsuki."<br>Shizuru closed her eyes and took a deep breath, wishing with all of her heart, deeply to find the girl of her dreams. "Where are you?" Shizuru opened her eyes, and saw a silhouette outlined against the ship's deck, sky and sea.  
>"Nat...su...ki..." a soft sigh, with a flutter of her heart both escaped as Shizuru pronounced the forbidden name like a prayer.<br>Shizuru opened her eyes wide in utter surprise to see the back of Natsuki's figure at the ship's deck, facing away from her. The end of Natsuki's long, raven braid waved in a soft breeze. The length of Natsuki's thick braid led Shizuru's crimsom stare to the rest of the girl's womanly figure bathed in vivid colors and bright sunlight. Natsuki turned suddenly as if she had been startled. The young woman looked directly at Shizuru in shock for a few seconds, then the expression on her pale face relaxed. "Oh," Natsuki said quietly, "hello. You startled me. For a moment I thought you were someone else. Your voice reminds me of someone I knew a long time ago."  
>"Someone you do not wish to see anymore," Shizuru replied, "someone who brings you bad memories."<br>A look of mingled shock and confusion crossed Natsuki's features, "how would you know that? Are you psychic?"  
>"Yes, I am," Shizuru smiled beautifully, making her face light up and her eyes glisten moistly.<br>Natsuki seemed to ponder Shizuru's words for a few seconds, and then replied, "have we met before?"  
>"In another life...another place," Shizuru confessed quickly, eagerly. "We were lovers, but I foolishly let you go...and now I can't find you again!"<br>Once again, a look of panic filled Natsuki's jaded gaze as a faint light of recognition briefly crossed her delicate features. Natsuki's full lips uttered a name that she had never known, "Shizuru..."  
>"You know me!" Shizuru exclaimed loudly, triumphantly. "You know me!"<br>"But I don't," Natsuki said nervously. "I shouldn't." The girl was wrapped in a veil of confusion and doubt. "I've never met or seen you before. Yet...somehow...I...know you," Natsuki lifted her hand, then reached out for the woman of the red eyes.  
>Shizuru felt her heart explode in bliss as utter joy shot through her entire body. Shizuru reached out her hand to touch Natsuki's extended digits. "You do know me, Natsuki! Please remember me! Please come back to me again!" Shizuru shouted as she eagerly leaned forward to touch her lost lover's hand. But then, Shizuru felt a sudden force pulling her back, and away from Natsuki. Shizuru looked to her side to see Nagi, always dressed imacculately in white, standing beside her.<br>"YOU MUST NOT INTERFERE! YOU MUST NOT TOUCH NATSUKI!" Nagi yelled roughly as rage colored his usually pale countenance into a healthy pink. "You are breaking our agreement, Fujino!"  
>"I WANT NATSUKI BACK!" Shizuru yelled unceremoniously as she struggled against the surprisingly strong Nagi and his iron grip on her wrists.<br>"I've worked hard erasing Natsuki!" Nagi replied coldly. "You gave her away quickly and easily! I've given you a new life, and that lover you couldn't get out of your mind. Its a permanent deal. You can never go back!"  
>Suddenly Shizuru heard what seemed to be an exact replica of her voice echoing her words with the same emotions she has expressed. Shizuru turned away from her struggle with Nagi, only to see Natsuki and Ahn facing each other.<br>"I want you back, Natsuki! Please remember me!" Ahn pleaded passionately as she stood before the raven-haired woman. "Please remember how much you loved me. Please come back to me!"  
>"NO!" Natsuki replied angrily, "I will never leave Reito!"<br>"Then if you are not mine...you will NEVER be his!" Ahn proclaimed as she whipped out a .38 revolver from her left jacket pocket, then aimed it at Natsuki.  
>Ahn's pale hand trembled as she pointed her revolver at Natsuki. Thick tears ran from the blond's sculpted cheeks. "I want you back, Natsuki! Please...Nat...su...ki!"<br>Shizuru trembled with bitter, jealous rage when she heard the passionate, intimate way in which Ahn pronounced Natsuki's name. Once more, the tawny haired woman tried desperately to get free of Nagi's firm hold on both of her wrists, but she couldn't. Nagi was surprisingly powerful despite being smaller in stature than Shizuru.  
>"I don't love you anymore, Ahn, "Natsuki replied firmly, never taking her emerald eyes off of Ahn's own pleading, dark ones.<br>Suddenly rapid, heavy footsteps were heard, and both young women turned to see gallant Reito rushing at them. In the blink of an eye, Reito had put himself between the women, and was now struggling with Ahn.  
>"Let me go, Nagi!" Shizuru said through clenched teeth as she continued to fight against Nagi who held steadfastly onto her, "I must rescue Natsuki! She needs me!"<br>"No! You won't interfere, Fujino!" Nagi replied angrily as if he was scolding a rebellious child, "this isn't your game anymore!"  
>Wordlessly in a dark, manly rage, Reito lifted Ahn up by the collar of her shirt, and started to strangle her. Ahn had wrapped her long legs around Reito's muscular torso, and with one hand she tried to pry his massive hands off her fragile, slender neck, while holding her revolver with the other. Ahn began to feel her neck about to snap, and that she could hardly breath anymore. She looked down at Reito with fear and anger, while he practically growled in animal rage. Reito was determined to kill Ahn. Natsuki's pleas to Reito to spare Ahn's life didn't reach his soul anymore.<br>Ahn panicked as she realized that she wasn't strong enough in her feigned masculinity to save herself from a true, enraged, territorial and powerful male. Ahn had to use her only means of defense as in her desperation she brought down her revolver, and shakily shot it twice into Reito's body.  
>Reito shuddered as death cruelly rushed through his body. But instead of weakening, Reito hardened his grip on Ahn, who was still pumping bullets into him. In his last, dying moments, Reito fell to the side of the ship's deck. The ship's deck gave way under Reito's weight, and he fell overboard, taking Ahn with him. All that was left was the echo of Ahn's scream added to Natsuki's own scream as she peered over at the side, then down to the ocean below where both her lovers had just disappeared.<br>Both Shizuru and Nagi stopped fighting, and now looked towards Natsuki who had her back to them. Shizuru was shocked at how still and quiet Natsuki had suddenly become. Then Natsuki turned around very slowly to look at the tawny haired woman. Natsuki nodded and gave Shizuru a small smile, then turned away once more to look out at the ocean.  
>Natsuki stepped to the edge of the space where the ship's deck was missing. Natsuki paused for a moment as if saying a silent prayer of goodbye. Natsuki straightened her noble posture, then proceeded to throw herself over the ship's edge, and out of Shizuru's sight forever.<br>Then Shizuru started screaming with all of her might even though no sound came out of her mouth. Shizuru tried to give voice to all of her anguish, desperation and regret because of what she had seen in Natsuki's eyes. That last look from the young woman's jade orbs to Shizuru had been one of sadness and acceptance. That last smile from Natsuki to Shizuru had been one of resignation and farewell.  
>Somehow, Shizuru managed to break free from Nagi's grip, and ran to the spot where Natsuki had stood. Shizuru peeered over the edge where the ship's deck was missing, down at the water below. The ocean waves flowed gracefully, moving gently to and fro, showing no sign that a tragedy had ever occurred.<br>"Shizzie! What the hell are you doing?" Nao's voice thundered through the haze in Shizuru's mind.  
>"Don't yell at her! You'll frighten her and make it worse!" an unfamiliar voice said quietly.<br>Shizuru continued to stare down at the ocean below, and had begun to feel strangely dizzy, as if she too would go down to the depths below, "my little spider...you have finally returned for me."  
>Shizuru heard Nao's voice mingled with another in what seemed a mumbled, garbled conversation. Then she heard Nao clear her throat and finally speak.<br>"Um...Shizzie," Nao said gently, "Why don't you get away from where you're standing? There's an awful draft today. You might catch a cold."  
>"I have to save Natsuki," Shizuru replied stupidly.<br>"Shizzie, please come here..."  
>"I cannot leave, spider. I am looking for my Natsuki."<br>"Shiz...I don't know who you're talking about."  
>Just like the battered, weakened wall of a once mighty damn that has broken down, the well of shizuru's tear burst. Tears ran down the once proud woman's cheeks, and sobs wracked her slender form. "My Natsuki is lost! I must rescue her as I always did. I always took care of her." Shizuru looked down at the water once more, trying to find her lost friend. "Natsuki. Come back to me! Please. NNNNAAAATTTTSSSUUUUKKKIIIIII II!" Shizuru had started to scream, but this time she could here herself doing it. Suddenly she felt herself being seized from behind by what seemed like dozens of arms. "So my little spider really has grown many arms after all," Shizuru said weakly as she was thrown to the floor. Shizuru looked up to see Nao looking down at her with both concern and fear on her pretty face. "Do not worry, my little spider. I am..." Shizuru never finished what she was about to say, and simply blacked out.<br>Like veils, shades of darkness peeled away, and Shizuru saw the light of consciousness once more. When she opened her eyes, Shizuru found that she was back in her own bed, in the stateroom she shared with her lover, Nao. Then Shizuru turned her tired head, and saw Nao standing to her left side.  
>"Spider?" Shizuru asked softly, tiredly when she saw the tears running down Nao's rosy cheeks, "what happened? Why are you crying? Where is...?"<br>"Shizzie..." Nao was on the verge of a good cry, "what happened to you? Why were you trying to jump off the ship?"  
>"I was not going to jump off the ship," Shizuru replied steadily. "I was trying to rescue...the people who went overboard."<br>"But there was no one there but you, Shizzie! You were completely by yourself!" Nao said in a panic.  
>"But Nagi was there with me. He can tell you that what I was not alone."<br>"Nagi?" Nao was momentarily confused by Shizuru's evident ramblings. "Oh...wait. You mean Dr. Nagi? He's the ship's doctor. I didn't know you were already acquainted with him."  
>"Ship's doctor?" Shizuru tried to raise herself but was flooded with a wave of dizziness that made her lie back down on her bed.<br>"Whoa...there, Shizzie. You can't get out of bed. Just stay lying down for a while til you feel better. Please don't move, sweetie."  
>"But Nagi is not the ship's doctor. He is the Obsidian Lord's demon assistant," Shizuru explained. "Do you not remember that he was the one who instructed us Hime on how to handle our childs?"<br>"What?" Nao was terrible confused now by Shizuru's strange words. Nao was convinced that her lover was having hallucinations. "Shizzie...where do you get all of this stuff?"  
>"But you were an Hime also, my little spider," Shizuru laughed weakly, "your child was a spider...a huge one named Julia."<br>"Shizzie, please snap out of it!"  
>"Ask Nagi, my little spider. He knows I speak the truth."<br>"He's right here," Nao said quickly. "Please, doctor. Help me. My wife is hallucinating!"  
>Shizuru heard light footsteps approach her bed from the right side. Then the fair-haired woman saw the familiar, short figure draped in white stand closeby.<br>"Good evening, Ms. Fujino," Nagi said with a bow. "I hope you are feeling better. You have been through quite a lot."  
>"Why are you being so formal with me, Nagi?"<br>"But we have just me, Ms. Fujino."  
>"That is not so, Nagi. We have known each other for years. You were the ambassador of the Obsidian Lord. You were in charge of the Hime."<br>"Shizzie!" Nao hissed quietly, "stop that..."  
>Shizuru noticed how Nagi and Nao looked at each other; as if they thought she was totally insane. "I am not out of my mind, Nagi. Tell my little spider about Natsuki!"<br>"Oh?" Nao was even more confused now, "you know her too, Shizzie?"  
>"Yes...Natsuki!" Shizuru exclaimed, now able at last to sit up in her bed. "She fell overboard! We must save her!"<br>"Shizzie please relax! Please lie down!"  
>"I am quite tired of being told what to do, spider!" Shizuru replied, now visibly annoyed.<br>"Shizzie...I just want to help!"  
>"Just leave me alone, spider. I must rescue Natsuki!"<br>"But Natsuki does not need to be rescued. She is quite well, Ms. Fujino," Nagi said gravely.  
>"Where is she?" Shizuru demanded, "I want to see her for myself!"<br>"She's the nurse, Shizzie!"  
>"Nurse? Natsuki is a nurse? But she is an Hime," Shizuru stated, now very, very confused. "I want to see her!"<br>"Don't get agitated, Shizzie. I'll get her in here. She just stepped out into the hall for a smoke." Then Nao proceeded to the door, and called out; nurse, nurse we need you!"  
>"My Natsuki does not smoke," Shizuru said with all the confidence in the world.<br>"But I am afraid she is not YOUR Natsuki, Fujino," Nagi replied with evident distaste. "She is MY Natsuki."  
>"No..." Shizuru affirmed, "she is my Natsuki."<br>"Shizzie..." Nao's voice was tingied with jealousy.  
>Shizuru heard soft footsteps heard as another figure entered the stateroom, and approached the bed where she sat. Shizuru's eyes lit up with joy when she saw the familiar figure; Natsuki, beautiful with her long, ebony hair tied back in an impromptu ponytail, face in a scowl, eyes filled with annoyance.<br>"Hey I wasn't done!" Natsuki said in her usual gruff, husky voice.  
>"Nat...su...ki..." Shizuru said with relief, "I found you once more. But why are you dressed in such a manner?"<br>"Um...well...I'm a nurse," beautiful, statuesque Natsuki, dressed in light green hospital scrubs replied with confusion, "do I know you?"  
>"Natsuki?" Shizuru was confused as to why Natsuki seeming the same, yet somehow was a stranger.<br>"Natsuki is not just a nurse," Nagi said proudly as he approached her, then leaned against her while embracing her, "she is also my wife."  
>Natsuki smile down at her shorter husband, then bent down a bit to kiss his head, "yeah. Proud of it too. He is the best doctor in the world!"<br>"No. That cannot be!" Shizuru cried out in despair, "no..."  
>"Yes it is," Nagi replied while laughing like a devil who has the last laugh, yet everyone around him thinking it was the most normal thing in the world to do.<p>

to be continued...


	7. Chapter 7

Erasing Natsuki by balticbard

Chapter 7: The Truth Revealed

There months passed since the incident on the cruise ship Lollipop. Shizuru's life had changed completely. She stopped going to work (and she had that luxury because she ran a multi-billion empire that was the Fujino empire). Shizuru left all of her business affairs in her father's hands who was more than happy to take over temporarily in her stead. Now, Shizuru spent all of her days in her bedroom moping in bed. Shizuru refused to speak to Nao, only the necessary words, and her wife opted wisely to stay out of the depressed woman's way.

"It cannot just end this way!" Shizuru told herself a million times as she recalled the fact that Natsuki was now Nagi's wife. "Its a nightmare. I know it is."

Shizuru heard murmurs through her door from outside. She got up from her bed, opened her bedroom door just a bit to listen to the sounds . Shizuru heard Nao's hushed voice as she spoke to someone on her cellphone. Her curiousity picqued, Shizuru left the confines of her room to listen.

"You're at the front door?" Nao whispered into her cellphone. "Don't knock. I don't want her to hear anything. She's upstairs in her room. I'll open the front door for you to come in. We can talk then."

Today, Nao had decided to spend the day at home, instead of at her office which kept her out all day and almost all night. Having Nao at home irritated Shizuru endlessly because she preffered to be alone with her thoughts of Natsuki. Shizuru heard the front door of her two-story house opening then closing. The crimson eyed woman heard Nao's voice mingling with another voice that went straight to her heart: Natsuki!

Shizuru's room was on the second floor of her house, and her first impulse was to go downstairs to meet Natsuki. But when she heard Natsuki, the object of her obsession, arguing with her wife, Nao, Shizuru decided against it. Instead, Shizuru stood next to the stairs while she listened to the voices coming up to her from the living room down below.

"Its not my responsibility anymore," Natsuki replied coldly. "You and I agreed that you would not contact me ever again! That ALL ties between she and I were to be cut permanently! She is yours now, your responsibility...your life, your affair."

"I don't know what to do!" Nao said in panic. "She...she remembers you! She's shut me out for good. Please help me!"

Natsuki stood before Nao in a cold, deadly stance, her beautiful face firm as she replied quickly, "No." Then Natsuki turned to leave.

"WAIT!" Nao shouted, and quickly stood in front of the brunette to block her path to the front door, hoping to keep the stubborn young woman from leaving. "You were the one who started this. I'm here because of you! ALL of this is your doing. you had a life with her. You deliberately cut yourself out of it...you sacrificed yourself for her. So you must still love her at least a little bit. Even for that last, small piece of love you still have in your heart for her, please help me with this!"

Natsuki looked down, and seemed to hesitate for a moment. But the brunette straightened her stance, and became resolute as she shook her head, "no. I have my committments. I have my own life now. I want no part of this."

Nao saw Natsuki's brief hesitation and doubt, and took advantage of it, "please, Nats. Please help me," the redhead said softly, helplessly.

Meanwhile upstairs, Shizuru was so shocked by what she heard that she felt as is she was about to faint. So all of what she now had really all was a lie; her life with Nao, her deal with Nagi. Shizuru garnered all her strength, then managed to go downstairs. Shizuru shocked both Nao and Natsuki as she confronted them with her sudden presence.

Shizuru was calm as she entered the living room.

"Shizzie!" Nao said with surprise at seeing her wife, "Shizzie, baby!" Nao approached the woman with open arms.

Shizuru waved Nao away with a stern hand. "Do not call me that ridiculous name anymore or come any closer, spider!" Shizuru was enraged. "So all of what we had was a lie! Our life together, our history, our feelings!"

"Well about our life, yes it was, " Nao admitted, "but I love you! That has always been true! You loved me too. Remember? We were happy together!"

Shizuru glared darkly at Nao, "Do not speak to me, spider." Then the light brown haired woman turned to face their visitor, "Natsuki..."

Natsuki turned around to face Shizuru with a look of frustration on her face. "Look...this no longer concerns me. This is your problem. Work it out, you two. Don't involve me in your affairs!" Then Natsuki started to back away with the intention of leaving the two women alone.

"NO!" Nao cried out when she saw Natsuki leaving. "Don't go," she pleaded in desperation. "Please tell Shizzie the truth!"

"Please...Nat...su...ki..." Shizuru said softly.

Natsuki faced the two women with an angry glare in her jade orbs. With shoulders slumped as a sign of surrender and defeat, Natsuki agreed to stay. "Alright. Fine!"

Nao chose to sit on a loveseat tucked in a far corner of the living room; out of Shizuru's view and rage, and yet close enough to console her if necessary. Meanwhile, Shizuru chose to sit on the sofa, and watch Natsuki pace back and forth with her arms crossed behind her, a gesture that Shizuru had never seen the girl use before.

"I always loved you, Shizuru," Natsuki began quietly. "I thought you would always love me. Till the end of time. I thought we were happy. You were all I needed to live. You were my life! I gave you my heart and soul. I loved you so very much," Natsuki said as she looked at Shizuru soulfully, sadly.

Shizuru felt a sudden surge of guilt as she rose from her spot on the sofa, and held out her arms with the intention of embracing Natsuki, "my Natsuki..."

"NO! Don't come near me!" Natsuki exclaimed angrily as she put up a hand in warning. Her voice was cold, curt, resentful. "I swear that I will leave!"

"Yes," Shizuru replied quietly. "I deserve that. I understand. I will not interupt again. Please continue."

Natsuki started to pace once more. "But you didn't feel the same way. I found out you were having an affair with Nao!"

Shizuru, now pale with shock, let out an involuntary gasp as she stood up from the sofa. "H...h...how did you find out?" she asked in a trembling voice.

"Nagi told me," Natsuki said gravely as she stopped her pacing on the carpet, then confronted Shizuru with another resentful glare.

"And you believed that bastard over me? Shizuru said as she raised her voice and eyebrows in an uncharacteristic fashion which shocked Nao who was several feet away, but who decided not to interfere.

"No, I didn't believe him at first," Natsuki calmly continued. "But I had been suspicious that something was going on. But I never would have thought that it involved infidelity. You were out late a lot, or didn't come home for days on end, and didn't even bother to call me to tell me what was going on. I chalked it all up to you being a dedicated workaholic at your business. I never said anything. I trusted and loved you. But I was so very wrong, wasn't I, Shizuru?"

"You still believed him!" Shizuru was incredulous. "You chose to trust him over me! How dare he contact you with such information!"

"How dare you cheat on me!" Natsuki countered angrily. Then the brunette stopped and paced herself, then took a step back. "Its none of my business anymore. But it was back then. I turned him away at first, but Nagi persisted. He treated me very well. He became my friend and confidant. I needed him because you weren't there anymore. You were gone. I was miserable. I knew you were with someone else, so when he made sexual advances to me I accepted."

"NO!" Shizuru was enraged.

"You were with someone else. When I needed you...Shizuru...you were with Nao. So don't even dare judge me."

"I am so sorry, Natsuki," Shizuru sighed as she shook her head daintily, then sat back down on the sofa.

Natsuki was so immersed in her story, that she didn't notice or care about Shizuru's apparent shame. "Then when Nao died, or so it seemed, things got worse between you and me, Shizuru. You began to stay home but you closed yourself off from me. It was worse than before. At least before you were still civil to me even though you were sleeping with someone else. But after Nao's death, it was almost as if you died with her. You were present in the flesh, but your heart was with a dead woman. You couldn't stop crying over Nao. I couldn't stand it anymore. I loved you so much that I just couldn't stand to see you suffer anymore. So I asked Nagi to do the impossible because I knew he had the power of a million hime...he was the prince of darkness. So Nagi agreed to help me."

"No one can revive the dead!" Shizuru replied, shocked at Natsuki's words.

"Remember, Shizuru," Natsuki countered, "that we ALL died during the Carnival. Mashiro revived us. Nagi has those same powers, although in this case he didn't really have to use them.

"Then what really happened? Wasn't Nao dead? Then if he didn't have to raise her from death...how is she here, then?" Shizuru asked quietly.

"Because Nao never really died!" Natsuki looked in Nao's direction to face the now cowering woman, "its your turn now. Tell Shizuru what really happened."

Shizuru turned her concerned eyes to look squarely at the now fidgeting, nervous redhead, "well? I am waiting."

"Um...well you see..." Nao had a sickly smile on her face, and fidgeted nervously, "about a year ago I turned states witness against an old boyfriend of mine who was a powerful drug lord. I helped put him behind bars for the rest of his life for first degree murder. After that I was put in the witness protection program. Nagi pulled a few strings, made a few calls to his higher-up friends, and made sure it was safe for me to come back. So...here I am?" Nao tried to joke, then smile to somehow ease the displeasure showing on Shizuru's classic features.

"I am not amused at all," Shizuru replied coldly, but her demeanor changed quickly into one of anger as she turned to face Natsuki. "You lied to me!"

"Yeah. I did!" Natsuki chuckled sarcastically, not at all intimidated by Shizuru. "Nagi planned the entire thing. He pretended to make a deal with you, sorta like a pact with the devil kinda thing; to give you a whole new life without me, but with your one and only long lost love, Nao."

"Oh you're so kind," Nao interjected sarcastically.

Shizuru was moved beyond emotion to get up quickly from the sofa. Her heart beat quickly as she reached out, and suddenly grabbed Natsuki's left hand in both her own. Tears ran down Shizuru's cheeks as she spoke, "you sacrificed yourself for me."

"NO!" Natsuki shouted, terrified at the thought that she had come across to Shizuru as something other than angry and resentful. Natsuki tugged at her hand, trying to get it back from Shizuru's grip. "I just wanted to get away from your constant whining! I was sick and tired of you, and your atitude!"

"You still love me, Natsuki!" Shizuru cried as she continued to hold Natsuki's pale hand in a vice like grip within her own hands. "You cannot deny it."

"No. I. Don't!" Natsuki finally freed her hand, snatching it away from Shizuru as if the woman's touch was like fire, then hiding it within her pocket. Natsuki backed away from Shizuru to what she thought would be out of her ex-lover's reach. Then Natsuki turned towards Nao. "I'm through here! You two handle your problems, and keep me out of your mess!"

Shizuru was of a stubborn, stony nature driven by greed; territorial, all feelings that were muted by recently now came bubbling up as her primal desire and sense of ownership for Natsuki flared up. "NO! You cannot leave! I want you to stay here with me!"

"Not in a million years," Natsuki said slowly, though gritted teeth as her voice was laced with pure, venomous fury.

"I love you, Shizzie!" Nao interrupted. "I've suffered too! Has all the time we spent together been a waste of time? Didn't I make you happy?" Nao took a few steps towards Shizuru, but stopped and gasped at the look of almost pure, black, evil anger in the beautiful woman's crimson eyes directed back at her. "Alright! Alright! I have to fess up too!" Nao said with her hands up as if she was defeated. "Months ago, Nagi offered me a deal. He would get me out of witness protection safely. I wouldn't have to be afraid of my ex, and I could have my life back. Plus, he paid me a lot of money."

"For what purpose?" Shizuru sked suddenly.

"To seduce you, Shizzie."

"And you were successful," Natsuki replied calmly, coldly.

"But why?" Shizuru had gone pale.

"Because he wanted me to get you away from Natsuki! I had told Nagi that I was in love with you. He became like my best friend. At first I was shocked because he always seemed so evil. But now he was so caring, so nice to me. He said that all I had to do was chase you til you gave in to me. I asked him what he wanted in return. What was the price I had to pay for his help because nothing in life is for free. Nagi said that there was no price. He was my friend, he said. If I took you away from Nats, he would have his reward." Nao looked down in apparent shame, "I love you, Shizzie. That was never a lie."

Silence ensued til Shizuru suddenly woke up from her stupor. "When Nagi offered me a new life, I asked him what his price was. He said that if I accepted his offer, he would already have what he wanted!" Then Shizuru turned to Natsuki, "did Nagi want something in return for helping you?"

"Yes," Natsuki replied quietly, gravely.

"What did Nagi want?" Shizuru asked cautiously.

"Me," Natsuki replied as she turned away from the two women before her, and started to leave. "He wanted me. Permanently."

"NATSUKI!" Shizuru cried out. The name came out as a sob from her red lips because the crying was bubbling up in her throat. "You sacrificed yourself so I could be happy with Nao!"

"I loved you, Shizuru," Natsuki said gravely. "I wanted you to be happy, even if it wasn't with me. So I paid the price that Nagi asked of me."

"You gave yourself to him! Shizuru screamed, her voice shrill and bitter. "You gave him your body. You let him touch you. You let him...are you his lover?"

Natsuki turned quickly around to face Shizuru full flush. The green of Natsuki's hospital scrubs was pale in comparison to the cold, jade of her glare. "I don't have to answer you to you anymore. You are no longer a part of my life. You lost the right to judge me when you slept with Nao. But if you want to know...yes I'm his lover. I slept with him before you left me for Nao, but now I am completely his lover."

"Then you still love me if you are still angry because I cheated on you with Nao, Natsuki!" Shizuru exclaimed loudly. "But I was tricked! Nao just admitted it in front of both of us. Her seduction of me was a scheme that Nagi used to manipulate all of us so that he could get to you!"

"You were never a fool, Shizuru!" Natsuki yelled with indignation, "you know the rules of right and wrong, of love and trust! Nao never forced you, or drugged you. Isn't that so, Nao?" Natsuki turned to Nao to look at her intently for a reply.

"Yeah," Nao replied readily, but cowered when her admission earned another one of Shizuru's evil glares.

"You knew what you were doing, Shizuru!" Natsuki raged in disgust as she finally had the chance to release all the pent up anger that she had held in for so long. "You don't have any excuse! You betrayed me!"

"Natsuki...I am so sorry..." Shizuru was now openly crying and sobbing, "for hurting you this way..."

Even Nao was crying at the sight of such a powerful, magnificent woman breaking down before her pale, green eyes.

Natsuki visibly slumped. The brunette was defeated by Shizuru's tears that went straight to her once hardened heart to make it clench in pity. "Shizuru," Natsuki said gently, "please stop crying. Its all over. Look...maybe I was too selfish...self involved and opinionated. I didn't take into account that maybe I drove you away into Nao's arms."

"Natsuki," Shizuru said tenderly amid her tears, "you were never a burden to me."

Natsuki's atitude and demeanor had changed completely. The brunette's angry posture was now gone. The woman's beautiful face was like a medieval painting, now serene, her voice soft almost like a cat's purr. "Shizuru, we had a good time, but we weren't meant to last forever. If we had been meant to be, you never would have cheated on me with Nao. But you did, and I guess it was fate. We were are on our way down different destinies. Things have changed now. We have new people, and new lives. You have to move on just like I did. I've accepted it. I have Nagi. You have Nao."

"Natsuki, please!" Shizuru cried as she wrung her hands, "this is not destiny! Nagi is to blame for all of this! He manipulated you into a trap so that you would agree to become his! That is not love!"

"I'm fine where I am," Natsuki replied quietly.

"Do you love him?" Shizuru yelled with uncontrolable force.

"I'm not in love with him," Natsuki admitted, "but I love him. He treats me so well. I'm fine. I am his wife...I belong with him, and to him."

"NO!" Shizuru screamed with all of her might in utter desperation because she knew she was losing Natsuki forever. "I WILL NOT ACCEPT THAT! YOU ARE MY NATSUKI!"

Instead of anger, Natsuki's reply to Shizuru's outburst was a look of utter sadness, and a brief shadow of longing that flashed across her porcelain, delicate features. Then it was all gone as Natsuki recovered her composure. With soft, delicate steps, Natsuki approached Shizuru, and kissed the pretty woman's soft cheek. "Goodbye, Shizuru. We will never see each other again. I wish you and Nao a long life filled with peace and happiness." Then just as quickly as she had spoken, as she had been at Shizuru's side, the brunette was gone. All that was left was the scent of Natsuki's strawberry perfume, and the sound of the front door of the house closing. Natsuki was gone, and silence reigned between the women she had left behind.

Shizuru brought her elegant hands up to her face as she fell to her knees, and began to wail like a helpless child. Her fury and indignation had flown away from her forever. Shizuru felt her guilt, and the absence of Natsuki's grace from her life strike her fully. Now the crimson eyed wonder knew that she had lost Natsuki, that it was final.

In her desperation, Shizuru felt her body tremble, as her wails turned into deep sobs that rose from deep within her, making her slender frame quake strongly. She felt arms surround her securely, so that she looked up through her tear filled eyes to see Nao beside her. Nao looked at Shizuru with infinite tenderness as she held her love tightly in her arms. "Little spider," Shizuru said weakly, "what have I done? Natsuki is the love of my life...I..."

"Its okay, Shizzie. I know," Nao said as she held the woman with the chestnut colored hair close to her, "I understand."

"You, and I..." Shizuru managed to speak despite her sobs, "I am so sorry. I love you, but..."

"I'm to blame, Shizzie," Nao had started to cry also, "I seduced you. I took you away from her. I know that you won't ever love me the way that you love Natsuki."

Shizuru freed herself from Nao's embrace, and let herself fall to the carpeted floor as she wailing calmed a bit. "I destroyed the most precious thing that I ever had. I will never forgive myself for what I did to Natsuki!"

"But you have to, Shizzie! She's already forgiven you. And her heart is so noble and kind that she even forgave ME! She told me so a while back."

"I am so miserable, little spider. This pain in my heart is too great for me to bear."

"Shizzie, I'm still here with you! I'll help you. I'll never leave you. I'll take care of you no matter what!" Nao rubbed Shizuru's arms trying to reassure her.

Shizuru shook her head, and pushed Nao gently away from her. "You are sweet, my little spider. I thank you, but I cannot love you anymore. Not now that I know the truth of how you decieved me, and how Nagi tricked my Natsuki away from me."

"Yeah, I know," Nao said through her sniffles as she pulled away from Shizuru. "I figured that would happen if you ever found out. So I tried to always keep the truth away from you. But I just want you to know that I'll always be around if you ever need me. But I think its best if I moved out!" Nao started to get up from the floor where she had sat next to a grieving Shizuru. Nao was almost on her feet once more, but was stopped by Shizuru's firm hand gripping her wrist.

"No, spider. Stay. Keep this place as a gift from me. I will go instead."

"What do you mean, Shizzie? Where are you going to go?"

"I..." Shizuru started to say as she got up and stretched out, "am getting a new place. I am starting over." Shizuru was done crying, and her tears were dry.

"Wow, Shizzie. Just like that we're over."

"Yes, spider."

"Always blunt, Shizzie."

"I need a new house...or apartment to start a new life with Natsuki..."

"Shizzie! Didn't she just say it was all over...and that she's with Na..."

"MY Nat...su...ki..." Shizuru said firmly.

Nao was suddenly speechless as she watched Shizuru recover once more to her usual, confident, glorious self.

"I am going to get back MY wife," Shizuru said as she walked away from Nao, and exited through the front door of the house she once shared with the redhead.

"Poor Nagi," Nao said with a smirk. 

tbc in chapter 8: Operation Natsuki's Recovery


	8. Chapter 8

Erasing Natsuki by balticbard

Chapter 8: Operation Natsuki's Recovery

Shizuru sat on the windowsill of the west window of her new penthouse apartment of four bedrooms, three and a half baths, five stories up in the Mason Building, the most lavish apartment complex in the most luxurious part of the city. The crimson eyed wonder was gazing out at the night-time city's skyline. Shizuru marveled at the array of bright, distant and multi-colored lights that dotted the cityscape.

"It all has to be perfect for my Natsuki," she said to herself as she surveyed her expensive, earth tone furnishings. "I have included everything she will need, and want to be happy here with me. I will make her happy. I will make her forget all the awful things I have done to her. I will spend the rest of our lives together making it up to her for each tear I made her shed, for each time my actions stabbed her tender heart." Shizuru pondered her words carefully. She knew there were no options or exceptions in this case; she wanted Natsuki back. Shizuru would not hesitate to kill Nagi because he had taken Natsuki, because she was going to get her back no matter what. "Our lives together," Shizuru whispered to herself as she let her eyes trail over to the sixty inch television in the center of the room equipped with the latest game console sitting on top of it, "I bought the latest games for her to play on it. I bought the latest motorcycle magazines. I even have season tickets for the next basketball game." Shizuru was making a million plans while she smiled, dreamy-eyed, "...its about time we have children. I want a little girl with thick, black, luxurious hair like Natsuki, and a blond little boy."

Shizuru sighed to herself, noting the emptiness in the apartment, and moreso in her heart. "How could I replace her so easily?" The pain and guilt caused by her past actions flowed higher or lower in her heart, depending on her mood. Right now, Shizuru's mood was soft as she recalled the hallucinations she had of Natsuki while she was on the cruise. For the fair haired woman it had all been like a strange dream; Nao, the cruise ship, Nagi, and Natsuki with another lover. But Shizuru's visions of Natsuki in another life, with another lover came back to her so vividly as if they were still happening. "Nagi enticed me to a life without Natsuki. But my heart created a vision of her on the cruise that made me love her again!"

Shizuru had chosen the location of the building, and the layout of the penthouse very carefully. The penthouse had large windows both east and west. To the west of the penthouse, the windows opened up to a view of a quaint street that had a fiftyish European air to it, complete with sidewalk cafes. The east side windows of the penthouse opened out to the city's skyline.

Shizuru knew that Natsuki always loved to watch the sunrise, "she'll be able to see the sun rise over the city's skyline. The bay is only a five minute walk away so we can go have picnics in the park next to it. We can sit together, and watch the waves. We can watch the sunset there! There is a hospital nearby in case my Natsuki wants to continue her training as a nurse. But I know it is Nagi who has convinced her to pursue that very noble profession, I know that she is really a scientist at heart."

Shizuru had prepared a home with all that was necessary and desirable for her lover's return. But all of the beautiful Fujino's efforts would be in vain if her Natsuki was not there with her. So it was time for Shizuru to begin her task: Operation Natsuki's Recovery.

Shizuru ended her musings and dreams as she punched in a number on her cellphone pad: that of a very highly valued ally and friend, Yukino Kikukawa who worked for the federal government as a TSA specialist in computer terrorism. Being the head of a major, world wide billion dollar corporation gave Shizuru the ability to grant special, discreet favors to now discreet friends who then became gratefully indebted. These were friends that Shizuru could count on in times of need to return the favors she gave them in exchange for information on Nagi, and the codes to unlock the security system on his mansion.

"How are you lately, Yukino?

"Fine, Shizuru. Thank you for the excellent gift to my laboratory. The new computers your corporation donated to us will help me and my staff process lab results at amazing speed."

"Which will help in the capture of terrorists who plot against our country," Shizuru added amusedly.

"Your patriotism is well noted, Shizuru. My superiors are very grateful for your help, and will not hesitate to return the favor in the future."

"Thank you, Yukino. Were you able to get the information I need?"

"Its all been emailed to you. Just use the password I sent you to access it."

"Thank you so much, Yukino," Shizuru said honestly as she turned towards her laptop.

"I truly hope you will be able to get Natsuki back, Fujino."

"I most definitely will, Kikukawa," Shizuru replied as she ended the call to her friend.

Shizuru quickly sat before her desk, then opened her laptop which se took out of the leftside drawer beside her. Shizuru logged into her wifi account, then quickly accessed her email. Shizuru smiled broadly when she saw the building plans for Nagi's house. Now Shizuru had a definite idea of where to enter. Also in the email sent to her by Yukino, Shizuru found the security codes to Nagi's alarms, "EXCELLENT!" Shizuru already had started formulating her plan to invade, conquer, and claim the prize. "My Natsuki! I will bring her home soon!"

It was around 4:23 am that Shizur, dressed completely in black sneaked through 16 to 17 rows of trees that surrounded a large, five story brick mansion: Nagi's residence. Shizuru had been trained since childhood in combat arts like karate, judo, boxing. She was also an accomplished ninja with superior survival skills, and was also skilled in the art of thievery. Yes, Shizuru had managed to find, then traverse Nagi's property after defeating the security system and alarms that formed a periphery around the borders of his vast property. Now she was scaling the east wall of Nagi's mansion.

Shizuru knew that after having studied the house plans of Nagi's mansion that Yukino had sent her, the best, quickest entrance was on the roof. Shizuru knew not to enter by breaking or forcing open any window because all had been wired. Shizuru knew that there was an old trap door on the roof of the house that would give her access to the attic. Shizuru was sure that neither Nagi, nor his incompetent security team knew that the trap door even existed when they bought the house for Nagi to live in with Natsuki, "MY Natsuki!" Shizuru said angrily to herself.

"Its a very old house," Shizuru mused with a smile. Even now as she carefully climbed, each elegant finger of her deceptively delicate hands feeling for grooves and openings on the wall's surface to attach themselves to help the crimson eyed wonder higher and higher up as she measured the distance to the roof. Finally, the beautiful ninja reached out, and with her left hand pulled herself up, then over its edge. Shizuru rested for a few minutes, then contemplated her plan; to get in quietly. She didn't plan on sneaking out. Shizuru planned on making a big exit.

Shizuru was armed with a tranquilizer gun and darts. She was also carrying assault weapons; a Silver Shadow Gilboa APR, an MK 14, and several rounds of bullets woven around her body in two, leather belts. Shizuru came planning an all out war, ready to kill anyone who stood in her way of reaching HER Natsuki.

Shizuru had one final weapon with her that made her feel confident as she lifted the trap door on the roof of Nagi's mansion, and slipped inside; Kiyohime. Shizuru still had the power to summon her monstrous child. While the other hime had lost the ability to summon their childs after the end of the Carnival, Shizuru had somehow managed to keep hers. This was something that Nagi didn't know; and it was her greatest weapon against someone Shizuru considered to be the devil himself.

Very slowly, Shizuru crawled the length of the huge attic that she knew covered the entire house. The attic was surprisingly empty, and it shocked Shizuru who expected it to be filled with all kinds of objects forgotten there over many years. That was an advantage for the crimson eyed wonder as she slowly got her bearings in the dark attic. Shizuru knew that the floor under her was Nagi's ceiling, and as such stretched over every room in the mansion. "That is how I will know what room my Natsuki is in. I will not wander around the entire house looking for her!" Shizuru knew this was an excellent way to avoid detection.

Shizuru knew the attic had many exits that opened to the mansion down below. Knowing where her Natsuki was would determine which exit to take that would be the closest to the girl she loved.

Shizuru carefully tracked the sounds beneath the attic floor with a small amplifier she held in her hand that was attached to earphones in her ears. She was even able to trace the voices of the burly bodyguards on the lower floors, along with the faint sound and voices of the servants. Finally Shizuru found Nagi's room. "I've found Nagi's room!" she whispered to herself in quiet joy.

"Natsuki," Nagi's voice whispered as the sound came up through the attic floor, reaching up to Shizuru's earphones, almost as if it had been whispered directly to her ear. Shizuru felt a deep, burning rage take hold of her because she knew what it meant; Nagi was having sex with her Natsuki at that very moment. Shizuru had to stop to try and control herself. She felt her old, murderous urges rise up within her, signaling a surge of bile about to spill from her mouth. And so she did; Shizuru couldn't hold back anymore. She vomited all the contents of her stomach as she listened to Nagi's growls and moans, while Natsuki gasped and sighed.

"Nagi. He is TOUCHING my Natsuki. He is having sex with my precious Natsuki. He is pushing his penis into MY Natsuki!"

Shizuru was feeling a darkness surghe through her that deepened more and more with every second that she kept listening to the sexual sounds that reached her through her earphones. She wiped her mouth on her sleeve as she tore the earphones from her head, then quietly lay them on the attic floor. Shizuru found the attic door closest to Nagi's room. Shizuru lifted the door on attic floor, then stealthily dropped down through it.

Shizuru dropped lightly out of the opening in the ceiling onto the carpeted floor of a dimly lit hallway. She turned to the left, and tiptoed towards the door at the end of the hall.

Shizuru felt the knot in her throat turn to stone as she placed her pale hand on the door knob of Nagi's room. From behind the door, the sound of Natsuki's delicate, sexual sighs came through the wood to assault Shizuru like sharp, poisonous darts to her jealous heart. The crimon eyed beauty turned the knob, then boldly, silently opened the door. Shizuru entered a dimly lit foyer-like smaller area that opened out to the larger room from where she could already hear the creaking of a bed amid masculine groans and feminine gasps. Shizuru's brow was furrowed in rage, her teeth clenched as her want and need for Natsuki deepened. "I do not care how much he has used her for his pleasure," Shizuru thought to herself, "she is mine. She is my Natsuki. Even though I broke her heart. Even though I wandered into other arms. I will always love her. I will always want her. Whether she is beautiful or not, or old, decrepit, or sick, she will always be my Natsuki!"

Shizuru felt her heart swell as she recalled her vision of Natsuki in her white gown twirling like a twisting, white mist in dark Reito's arms, or quivering with resentment in a bold Ahn's embrace. "I am getting her back!" This was Shizuru's final thought as she boldly advanced into Nagi's room with the intention of recovering her...wife!

Shizuru's eyes focused to the dimness of the room to see a king sized bed with two figures upon it. The sight of a pale Natsuki in black lace underwear, and a silk, man's black robe hanging off her pale shoulders, lying on her back in all her womanly beauty, with a naked, white haired boyish Nagi covering her and grinding into her assaulted Shizuru's sight.

"So. You've finally arrived, Fujino. You took long enough. I expected you to come much sooner!"

Nagi's voice startled Shizuru from her repulsion and disgust at the sight of him having sex with her Natsuki.

"Yes, Shizuru," Nagi continued. "I knew you were coming. I've been waiting for you."

"So I see," Shizuru replied coldly. "I thought I was breaking in. I underestimated you, Nagi. So all of this sex with Natsuki is a farce, only a one time sex show for me tonight?"

"No," Nagi replied with a proud smirk. "I enjoy her often. Not just at night. Whenever I have the urge I take her, and she welcomes and enjoys me." Nagi sat up on the bed, then gathered the bedsheets around his waist.

"You know why I am here then," Shizuru added firmly as her eyes flashed dangerously at Nagi.

"I know why, Shizuru Fujino!" Nagi laughed. "But you will never have her again. Natsuki is mine!"

"No. No. NO!" Shizuru exclaims fervently.

Calmly, Nagi turned to Natsuki who was sitting up against the headboard of the bed. "Baby, do you plan on leaving me?"

"No," Natsuki replied quietly, honestly as she looked at Nagi. Then Natsuki turned her gaze to Shizuru, "I thought I made myself clear. I explained myself when I was at your home, Shizuru. This is where I want to be."

"Natsuki," Shizuru was trembling now, "you cannot mean this. I know I have been unfaithful, but I want us to start over! I have come for you. Come home with me."

"This is my home now, Shizuru," Natsuki replied firmly.

"I will not accept that!" Shizuru yelled wildly.

"But she has chosen me!" Nagi exclaimed with pride and joy mingled in his voice as he got up from his bed while his body began to glow. In an instant, Nagi's human shape was gone. Nagi was transformed into an enormous humanoid bat-like demon complete with huge, black wings. Nagi's cruel smile was now a snout with rows of sharp, canine teeth. His hands were razor-like curled claws. Nagi's new self rose to its full height, and growled dangerously at Shizuru who now hurled herself to a corner of the room as Nagi's clumsy bodyguards started to invade the premises.

Shizuru had envisioned her battle with Nagi as a sort of Asian movie complete with martial art moves and kicks, bodies hurling through the air in fantastic leaps, or super hero stunts like clashing swords or lances, or even gunfire while villian and hero miraculously dogded bullets to continue fighting. Shizuru imagined herself the brave hero who saves her princess Natsuki from the evil villian, Nagi.

There would be a great battle between herself, the force of good, and Nagi, the force of evil. Of course Shizuru would win by using her skill and weapons. Nagi would fail inspite of everything, and all the advantages given to him. Shizuru would be fearless and dazzling so that Natsuki would fawn over her in evident longing and admiration.

But reality differed from the fantasy that Shizuru had woven in her lovesick mind when she planned to abduct Natsuki back from Nagi. In the real world Natsuki didn't want to leave Nagi. In the real world Nagi was acting like a hero protecting his woman, his bed, his house. In the real world Shizuru was the intruder, the unwanted invader who came to steal and cause problems. In the real world Shizuru wasn't the brave hero, but was instead terrified as she hid behind the corner furniture as Nagi's bodyguards burst into his room with guns blazing and shooting in every direction.

Shizuru thanked her instincts that drove her to wear bullet proof clothing over most of her body. But despite her protective clothing, Shizuru knew that she was still in danger, still vulnerable to the wildly ricocheting bullets that showered Nagi's room. She could hear Nagi's inhuman growls and still human anger as he yelled at his bodyguards while trying to control them and covering Natsuki with his body to protect her from the chaos.

In a sudden rush of adrenalin, Shizuru whipped out her tranquilizer gun, then began firing wildly with no set target. Shizuru sprayed the tranquilizer darts from her gun, hoping one would hit home. She heard sounds of pain from beyond her hiding place, and knew she had some success. But her darts were gone now, so Shizuru grabbed her MK 14, and began shooting her rounds wildly as she moved quickly from one corner of the room to cover herself behind a heavy, metal table that was now tipped over. The sound of gunfire filled the room, drowning out Nagi's voice, and driving Shizuru into a deeper panic as she finally emptied all of her assault rifle's cartridges. Still, the fighting, yelling and gunfire continued as panic seized Shizuru who realized she had no way out of this situation. She had not brought enough ammunition with her. Shizuru whipped out her assault pistol, and tried to ignore the cold, steel stab of fear that gripped her as she saw there was no escape from her current situation. Shizuru was blind to everyone and everything but her own survival. Finally when her pistol was out of bullets, Shizuru reached in desperation for her last weapon; a grenade. The terrified woman pulled the pin on the grenade and threw it haphazardly over the rim of the table while she screamed out a name with all of her might because her very survival depended on it.

"KIYOHIME! COME TO ME!"

For the rest of her life, Shizuru would try to remember those few seconds before she threw the grenade, and the few seconds after the blast. Before the act, Shizuru had been desperate to save herself as she tossed the grenade over the table tipped before her that acted as her shield, without even thinking that Natsuki was in its path. Shizuru pressed herself against the wall, and low against the table. Then she heard the explosion the sound so loud it frightened her and almost burst her eardrums. Then there was darkness, and for a few seconds Shizuru could have sworn that she had ceased to exist. Then as the darkness began to recede in Shizuru's mind, it was replaced by shades of gray that became progressively lighter as she recovered consciousness. Shizuru found herself being cradled on one of the serpent heads of her beloved, monstrous child Kiyohime. It was at this point that Shizuru looked around her at the devastation that her previous actions had caused.

The bodies of what Shizuru estimated to be about ten bodyguards, all of Nagi's men, lay scattered in bloody piles. Some of the bodies were almost intact, while others lay in several pieces around the area. Half of Nagi's mansion was gone. The ground around what was left of the mansion seemed to be burned to almost pitch black. The remains of burned tree trunks marked the where the destroyed part of the mansion had almost bordered on. Then Shizuru saw a black silhouette moving against the backdrop of the devastation that she had caused.

Shizuru recognized Nagi in his monstrous inhuman form. Nagi's tattered, batlike wings, or what was left of them were now draped over his bloody, furry body. His face was horribly mangled, as were his arms that seemed to hold something tenderly to his chest.

"Oh...no," Shizuru whispered painfully to herself as she remembered what she had grieviously done wrong when she carelessly tossed her grenade. She had only thought of her own survival, and not Natsuki's safety.

"Fujino," Nagi's now hoarse voice emerged from the monstrous, distorted countenance of the heavily burned creature, "even I didn't expect such a cowardly act from one such as you!"

"The pot calls the kettle black!" Shizuru retorted angrily. "Who is more a coward than you who lured my lover away from me through lies?"

Nagi seemed about to growl menacingly through what was left of his snout, but instead he began to speak as if he were still human.

"I have wanted Natsuki for a very long time. Our souls have met in other lives, but she was never mine. She always ended up with you."

"And that is how it shall always be!" Shizuru yelled angirly from atop her beloved Kiyohime.

"I knew the first time that I saw Natsuki," Nagi continued, "that she was different from all the other hime. I knew she was the one for me!" Nagi looked down at the precious bundle he coddled lovingly in his arms, "my pale, beautiful Natsuki, with red lips and midnight hair."

Shizuru spied what Nagi held in his tired arms, "My Natsuki," she said with relief while noticing that the young woman was totally unharmed, but seemed to be asleep. Natsuki's hair fanned around her like a black cape, and her face was a picture of serene peace. "GIVE HER TO ME!"

"You don't deserve her, Fujino!" Nagi painfully cried out as he faltered in his step. Nagi knew that he was dying. He was both enraged and surprised at Shizuru's cunning, and at how easily she defeated him. When Shizuru tossed her grenade, then invoked Kiyohime, the combined forces met, then exploded together. The result of both of Shizuru's forces had caused incredible chaos and devastation that almost destroyed Nagi's entire mansion, killed all of his men, and mortally wounded him. "You don't deserve her!"

"But she is still mine!" Shizuru interjected wildly as she got up from where she was perched. "Give her to me!" Shizuru demanded as she held out her arms.

"You didn't think of her when you tossed that grenade...did you, Fujino?"

"I warn you, Nagi! give me my Natsuki. NOW!"

"Your threats are useless to me, Fujino. I am dying anyway. I will give Natsuki to you. I can't take her with me even though I want to. I would have to kill her, and I can't. I love her too much!" Nagi said as he gently placed his precious bundle in an impatient Shizuru's arms.

"My Natsuki!" Shizuru cooed as she held the dormant girl in her trembling arms. "Kiyohime, take us home!" With that said, the giant squid with the seven serpent heads turned, and headed southward through the forest that was left untouched by the explosion Shizuru had caused.

Nagi was left behind, alone and empty. "Goodbye my precious Natsuki," he said as he fell dead.

Shizuru cried tears of joy as she cuddled Natsuki while riding Kiyohime home. Even though she had always been confident about all things in her life, this time Shizuru truly feared that she would lose Natsuki forever. Kiyohime deposited Shizuru and Natsuki at the edge of the forest it had just traversed, and vanished because his mission to serve his mistress was over. Shizuru carried her Natsuki the rest of the way home.

Shizuru had taken Natsuki to the new apartment she bought, and wanted to call home with her summer princess. Shizuru had undressed Natsuki carefully, then laid her down on a futon in front of the living room fireplace. Shizuru covered her gorgeous girl with a blanket, then burned what was left of Natsuki's clothing in the fire she had started in the fireplace. Shizuru checked Natsuki's body, and was relieved to find there were no marks, cuts or injuries of any kind from the explosion that killed Nagi on the girl. Natsuki was completely flawless, untouched, unharmed. "Thank God!" Shizuru said to herself as she sat on the floor next to Natsuki, and waited for her to wake up. She didn't have to wait much longer than ten minutes when Shizuru spied Natsuki waking up as her eyelids began to flutter open. This was the moment that Shizuru had dreaded most because it would determine whether Natsuki would want to stay with her or not. Shizuru knew that she had to take great care to choose her words carefully so that she would not endanger the delicate state of Natsuki's nerves and turn her away forever.

Shizuru watched intently how Natsuki's emerald eyes filled with confusion as the newly awakened woman took in her unfamiliar surroundings.

"Where am I?" Natsuki asked, her voice hoarse with sleepiness.

"You are with me, Nat..su...ki."

"Oh," Natsuki replied as she brought her hand up to touch her face. "Where's Nagi?"

"I..."

"You killed him," Natsuki said nonchalantaly which Shizuru found disturbing. Natsuki slowly started to sit up, and Shizuru put an arm around her shoulders to help her up.

Natsuki was sitting up, holding the sheet around her nude torso with her left hand, while using her right arm to keep herself propped up. Shizuru had shifted in position so that she now faced her brunette. Natsuki was about to speak, but Shizuru gently shushed her.

"Let me speak, Natsuki. Please listen carefully to my words."

Natsuki silently nodded her approval, and waited for Shizuru to begin speaking.

"Natsuki," Shizuru felt herself start to tremble as her nerves flared up. She fisted her clammy hands and breathed deeply while trying to harden herself to continue speaking. "I speak to you from my heart now. I will tell you the truth so there will not be any lies between us. So that you may begin to trust me again." Shizuru's voice cracked, filled with intense emotion as she looked into Natsuki's jade stare, "I have hurt and betrayed you. I have thrown you away. I have done such terrible things to you. But tonight I did the most terrible of all."

"What did you do?" Natsuki asked expectantly, "is it about Nagi?"

"It is more than that," Shizuru replied almost in a stutter.

"Tell me then, Shizuru," Natsuki gently prompted with a small nod.

"I wanted you back, Natsuki!" Shizuru exclaimed as she became agitated. "That is why I went to fetch you from Nagi. I thought it would be a simple task. I had it all planned. I thought I was well prepared. I got into his house. I was armed. But he already knew I was there. I saw him with you..."

"Yes. I know you did. He waited until he knew you were there to do that. He knew it would up set you," Natsuki replied quietly.

"He asked you if you wanted to leave him," Shizuru felt the anger in her heart erupt. "You said that you wanted to stay with him."

"Yes. That was my decision, Shizuru," Natsuki said firmly. "You should have respected it!"

"But I couldn't!" Shizuru yelled wildly as her crimsom eyes flashed like fire. "I couldn't!"

Natsuki wanted to yell back at Shizuru. She wanted to pour out the venom still left in her heart towards Shizuru. But the young woman did not speak because she knew it was a futile endeavor. So the raven-haired beauty only shook her head as she gathered the sheet around her, and started to get up with the intention of leaving.

"Wait!" Shizuru panicked. "Natsuki. please wait!"

"What for? Another argument?"

"Please, Natsuki. Just listen to me for a little while."

Natsuki clicked her tongue with a loud "tsk" then reluctantly settled down on the floor once more.

"Nagi's soldiers barged in," Shizuru said quickly, nervously, "it became like a battle field. It was all chaos. They began firing at me, so I hid. I fought back with all of my ammo. But I ran out so I only had a grenade left. I tossed it at them from behind my hiding place. I was terrified that I would be killed. I did not want to die! I only thought of myself. Not of you. Not that you could have been killed in the explosion!"

"Shizuru..."

"Natsuki...I am a coward...I did not care about anyone but myself...I did not want to die!"

"Its alright, Shizuru. Its alright," Natsuki said in a soothing voice as she sat next to the crying woman and put an arm around her. Natsuki gathered the bedsheet that covered her statuesque body, and drew the woman with the chestnut colored hair even closer to her. Shizuru sobbed even harder, her cries even deeper.

"I'm not blaming you, Shizuru. I'm not judging you."

"But I...ca...n't..." Shizuru managed to say amid her tears.

"Shizuru," Natsuki said gently as her slender fingers gently massaged Shizuru's scalp, "I understand. You're not the hero you thought that you were. You're just an average, imperfect person like all the rest of us. I know because the same thing happened to me."

Shizuru's sobs began to die down to a few sniffles as she rubbed her eyes, then looked questioningly at her companion, "when...how?"

"When I had been with Nagi for a while. I saw how kind he was to me. I couldn't believe it. I couldn't fathom it. I had always thought that he was a monster. He did things during the Carnival that were monstrous. But he was actually capable of being kind and gentle. I almost fell in..."

"NATSUKI!" Shizuru exclaimed in utter panic and disbelief. "You fell in love with him?"

"I thought that I was going to spend the rest of my life with him," Natsuki continued nonchalantly. "That was the deal. You would be with Nao, the love of your life. I would be with Nagi."

"No! NO! Natsuki, I am always with you!" Shizuru turned and threw her arms around the young woman's slender neck and pulled her hard into herself.

"You forgot me, Shizuru," Natsuki whispered.

"Yes," Shizuru admitted ashamedly. "For a while you did not exist. But when I went on the cruise with Nao I saw you there!"

"I was never there," Natsuki replied. "I saw you when the ship docked, and Nagi went on as the ship's new doctor. I was there with him as a nurse. You had been hallucinating, and tried to jump off the ship into the water."

"But I saw you!" Shizuru affirmed fervently. "You did not see me. You did not acknowledge me. You were in love with someone else. I couldn't help myself so I fell in love with you again!"

Natsuki's small chuckle surprised Shizuru who moved away from her brunette.

"What do you find so humorous, Natsuki?"

"Oh...not much," Natsuki replied. "Only that you couldn't erase me completely from your heart."

"No. I could not, my Nat...su...ki," Shizuru added as she became playful and flirtateous, then began to caress Natsuki's face.

"I wasn't able to erase you from mine either, Shizuru."

"Natsuki..." whispered the woman with eyes like fire as she leaned in slowly, then captured the raven-haired princess's ruby lips with her own. "Natsuki..." the name was drowned in a deep, wet kiss as the fair-haired one made oral love to her beloved. "Stay with me, my Natsuki. Let us begin anew."

"You want us to start over?" Natsuki seemed skeptical.

"Yes," Shizuru said in a voice that dripped lust and longing, "a new life together. With children."

"Yeah," Natsuki replied tenderly, "I think I'd like that too."

Shizuru's gasp was one of pure bliss as she embraced her brunette. "But I want more than that."

"What?"

Shizuru shifted, then reached out with her arm. Shizuru searched under the cushions of the couch beside the two of them. The crimson eyed wonder searched for several seconds while her companion's emerald gaze followed Shizuru's movements in deep fascination. "I found it!" Shizuru exlcaimed as she retrieved a small box from under the couch's cushions. Then Shizuru turned to Natsuki as she opened the small box to display a beautiful gold ring with a small, two diamond setting.

"Oh..." for once in her life, Natsuki was almost completely dumbstruck.

"Will you marry me, my Natsuki?" Shizuru asked tenderly as she smiled adoringly at her girl while slipping the ring onto Natsuki's left hand ring finger.

"Yes," Natsuki replied witha trembling voice.

Shizuru was overwhelmed with joy as she tackled her brunette, and both of them fell back down on the futon. Shizuru quickly mounted Natsuki so that she was now completely on top of the young woman.

"We will never look back, my Nat...su...ki..." Shizuru said passionately as she began to make love to her gorgeous brunette.

And they never did.

Fin 


End file.
